Workers more threatened by humans than robots

摘要

A series of studies by researchers from the Technical University of Munich and Erasmus University Rotterdam show most workers would rather lose their jobs to robots than to another human. Researchers first asked a group of 300 respondents if they would prefer to see another human or a robot replace a co-worker; 62% suggested they would prefer a human. But when asked their answer if the job in question was their own, only 37/0 opted for the human worker. In the second study, 250 respondents said they felt less threatened by the possibility of losing their job to automation. The research team concluded that humans do not feel competitive with robots the same way they do with each other, as being replaced by a person could cast doubt on the displaced worker's ability to do his or her job. A third study showed that one-third of nearly 300 surveyed employees in manufacturing feel a strong possibility they will one day lose jobs to automation or a technology. A 2018 report from the World Economic Forum predicts robots will take over 50% of all current work tasks by 2025.