Are androids our friends or foes? It depends on the context. Most G7 countries have mixed feelings toward robots, according to a survey conducted by United Robotics on nearly 8,000 people in the US, France, Canada, Italy and Germany, and received exclusively by Euronews Next. Although the majority see further developments as “inevitable,” many people are still concerned that in the future, robots may just get too intrusive. The standout fear across all surveyed countries is to be somehow replaced by a robot. Nearly 80 per cent worry they could take away jobs from people, while 71 per cent believe robots may as well take up the role of humans in social interactions. Replacement fears are also reflected in the way people want robots to look. An average of 60 per cent across all five countries are uncomfortable with androids and don’t want robots to resemble people, or even have human traits like limbs or a face. Boiled down, it’s a “yes” to Wall-E and a “no” to Terminator. Speaking about these fears, United Robotics CEO Thomas Linkenheil told Euronews Next that “a lot can be linked to pop culture and science fiction, which has imagined the role of robots in society without understanding the technology or the impact that robots can have on daily work life. “For United Robotics Group, robots will never replace humans – however, they will become necessary in the workplace to respond to demographic changes and expectations of the workforce,” he added. “The essence of our vision is that robots in the workplace will allow humans to focus on high-value tasks like analysis and care, that a robot cannot replace. The idea of service robots in the workplace is to offload humans of tedious and time-consuming tasks, that can also sometimes be dangerous for health (like carrying heavy loads) to make work more enjoyable”.
Full survey : Humanoids? No, thanks. Most G7 countries feel uncomfortable with the most advanced robots.
