Almost two years after the emergence of ChatGPT, the practical value of generative artificial intelligence is no longer in doubt within companies that have integrated this technology. Employees who use AI tools seem convinced of their productivity benefits, according to a recent US study.
A research team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) surveyed over 9,000 employees in nine countries on their perceptions of task automation and the proliferation of machine-based tools in the world of work. Several reports claim that millions of jobs are set to disappear by 2030, due to technological progress. These alarmist forecasts could lead working people to fear that they will ultimately be replaced by intelligent machines.
But workers seem convinced that automation and robotisation do not necessarily mean that they’ll be replaced. In fact, 60% of employees who have worked in tandem with robots or AI tools expect these technologies to have a positive impact on their safety, productivity and career development.
However, the MIT researchers found that respondents’ degree of optimism varied from country to country. Workers in France, for example, are less confident than those in Australia and Spain about their future prospects in the face of the rise of robotics and AI systems. Fewer of them believe that recent technological advances will help them to progress professionally. Similarly, British workers are more skeptical than Italians and Poles about the supposed safety benefits of robots and AI.
But the most distrustful are Americans. Workers in the US believe that automation and robotization will harm their pay. They are also convinced that their jobs are likely to be threatened by the deployment of generative AI and robots.
“Given the reputation of the United States as a center of technological innovation and a supporter of innovative advances, this pessimism toward the impact of technology on work is surprising,” the MIT researchers write in their research.
Nationality aside, it seems that employees’ level of job satisfaction has a major influence on their degree of optimism about automation and robotization.
“Workers who are more satisfied in their jobs – as well as workers who feel more valued by their employers – are also more likely to see potential benefits of automation and new technologies for their work,” reads the study.
In other words, executives and managers have every interest in ensuring the well-being of their employees, if they want them to make the most of the potential offered by new technologies. – AFP Relaxnews
