Hardly any of us actually believe artificial intelligence will take our jobs
When it comes to robots stealing jobs, it seems we consider ourselves immune – we have the "it couldn't possibly happen to me" mentality.
Research from Rocket Fuel shows that just nine per cent of Britons believe artificial intelligence will negatively impact their job, with the majority expecting it to either have no impact. 10 per cent expect it to have a positive influence.
The industry where we expect it to have the biggest impact is, unsurprisingly, technology. This is followed by the military, medicine and transport.
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There's also a difference in attitude according to salary – among those on £10,000 a year or less, 19 per cent expect AI to have a positive influence on their job, compared to 13 per cent of those on salaries of £40,000 or more.
Commenting on the research, Dominic Trigg, one of the researchers at Rocket Fuel, said:
We believe there is no reason to see Artificial Intelligence as a threat to jobs. For example, if we look at the marketing world today, new roles, skills and opportunities are on the rise. Many of the jobs people have now were not even in existence a decade or two ago, such as SEO consultants, social media experts and mobile and web app developers.
Beyond the direct influence on jobs, people in the UK are generally optimistic about AI's presence in society. 42 per cent say they are excited about it and that they believe it will solve world problems, while just 10 per cent view it as a force of evil.
The study revealed that men are most excited about the prospects of AI than women, on average. In particular men aged 65 or over are the most optimistic about the possibilities it will bring. Both men and women falling into the 18-24 age bracket are much more suspicious about it.