Study: Robots are taking jobs, but slowly.

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People tend to overestimate how quickly robots are taking jobs. This is stated in a study by Brigham Young University (USA).

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The team surveyed almost 2,000 people about their perception of automation replacing human workers. First they were asked to estimate the percentage of employees replaced by robots. Then respondents were asked whether their company had ever used automation instead of humans.

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14% of respondents said that they had already been replaced by robots. They believe that 47% of others faced a similar problem.

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Those who kept their jobs are confident that layoffs due to automation affected 29% of workers.

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“Overall, our notions of robot takeovers are greatly exaggerated. For those who did not lose their jobs, they are overestimated by about a factor of two, and for those who did, by about three times,\” said the study author Erik Dalin.

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In his words, people’s fear of automation-driven substitution dates back to the early 19th century.

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“We expect that new technologies will be adopted without accounting for all relevant contextual obstacles such as cultural, economic and government mechanisms,\” said Dalin.

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He added that the presence of automation does not necessarily mean its active adoption.

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The study’s results align with earlier work by Dalin. They indicate that robots do not displace people but integrate automation technologies to increase the value of human labour.

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“The everyday situation is an autonomous cleaner in a supermarket. This robot cleans the floor while people are occupied with shelving or other hard-to-reach places,\” said the scientist.

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As another example, Dalin cited the aviation industry. He says aircraft manufacturers use robots to paint wings. The device can apply one coat in 24 minutes, while a human would take several hours. Yet while the robot is painting, people are refilling its paint.

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In May, Singapore authorities reported a mass replacement of jobs by robots. They say this occurred due to migratory restrictions during the pandemic.

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In January, researchers suggested that by 2040 artificial intelligence will deprive 12 million Europeans of work.

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