This is how worried Brits are about robots taking their jobs
A quarter of Brits believe robots are coming to take their jobs – and soon.
Some 25 per cent of 2,000 people surveyed by OpenText said they believe they could be replaced by robot technology in the next 10 years.
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Meanwhile, 42 per cent say this could happen by 2066.
And one in ten of those aged between 25 and 34 believe their role could be filled by a robot as soon as 2018.
The younger generation was found to have the most confidence in the power of robots.
Some 19 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 said they sometimes or frequently worry about the prospect of their jobs being taken on by robot technology.
Mark Barrenchea, chief executive of OpenText, said: “This digital revolution will bring an increasing reliance on self-service technology, machine-to-machine communication (M2M) and artificial intelligence.
“These will completely transform the workplace as menial tasks, and some non-routine jobs, are digitalised through robotics and process automation.
“As many as 25 to 40m jobs globally will disappear as a direct result of extreme automation and extreme connectivity, with the greatest losses occurring in white-collar office and administrative roles.”
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But Barrenchea said this “revolution” should not be feared.
“M2M communications will enable machines to process data and make decisions based on this data as we move toward more intelligent, cognitive systems. In many cases, the intelligence these systems deliver will be more accurate, immediate and safer than humanly capable,” he said.
“Businesses that use the internet tend to grow more quickly, export two times as much as those that don’t, and create more than twice as many jobs.
“Despite these statistics, many companies are off to a poor start on the journey toward digital transformation. While organisations are taking advantage of digital technologies, many economies remain digitally immature.
“This means that the ability to unlock the value of digital is far from being realised.”