In Advanced and Emerging Economies Alike, Worries About Job Automation by Richard Wike and Bruce Stokes published by Pew Research Center (9/2019).
Many fear robots, computers will eliminate jobs, increase inequality
“Across the globe, new technologies are transforming the nature of work. Advances in robotics and artificial intelligence are displacing jobs in manufacturing and, increasingly, in the service sector. And while automation may boost productivity and overall economic growth, there is a recognition that it will also disrupt the workplace, with repercussions for workers, employers, education systems and governments.
Average citizens see a revolution coming in the workplace, and they are concerned. As a new Pew Research Center study of public opinion in 10 countries highlights, there is a widely shared view that the nature of work will likely be transformed over the next half-century, though not everyone is equally convinced.
In some countries and economic sectors, of course, the transformation of the workplace has already begun. In South Korea, there are more than 600 installed industrial robots for every 10,000 workers in manufacturing facilities. In Japan there are more than 300 and in the United States nearly 200. Profit maximization, and the relatively high cost of human labor, helps drive automation. The average hourly cost of a manufacturing worker is $49 in Germany and $36 in the U.S. The hourly cost of a robot is $4. How far will the use of computers and artificial intelligence spread? The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that 14% of jobs in advanced economies could become susceptible to automation and another 32% substantially changed, affecting the lives of millions of workers…”
