The subject of whether AI will eventually replace humans is receiving so much attention that another, related but different question has been neglected. This subject concerns robots that may replace people in a variety of jobs even though they don't necessarily involve artificial intelligence (AI), provided that all relevant factors are taken into account.
More than 2,000 Americans were surveyed (recently) by researchers at the Brookings Institution to find out how they feel. Now that we have cleared all of that up, it is crucial to remember that 52% of respondents to this survey believed that most jobs requiring physical work in the next 30 years would be performed by robots.
Just 23% of respondents thought this was not very likely, compared to 19% who thought it was extremely likely and 33% who thought it was fairly likely. It's interesting to note that those who believed this to be true most strongly were between the ages of 35 and 54. Among them, 21% thought it was extremely likely, compared to only 17% for those between the ages of 18 and 34 and 18% for those over the age of 55.
Notably, almost thirty-two percent of respondents felt that federal regulation should apply to this since it is the kind of thing that might wind up preserving jobs. Nonetheless, a comparable percentage, precisely 29%, stated that they would oppose any kind of regulation.
This seems to indicate that Americans disagree on this specific subject, even though younger people are more inclined to support regulation. Just 25% of respondents over the age of 55 and 31% of those between the ages of 35 and 54 expressed a desire for regulation, compared to 39% of poll participants between the ages of 18 and 34.
Sixty-one percent of respondents to this survey indicated that they might not feel comfortable working with robots. That will be a major worry because, depending on where individuals end up, the degree of comfort they have working with robots will determine whether or not they become more or less common. A quarter of respondents indicated they wouldn't be prepared to spend more than $250 on a robot, which might put financial pressure on the sector.
