Artificial intelligence sparks hope — and fear among workers, US poll shows
AMERICANS are torn over the promise of artificial intelligence, a new poll has showed, expressing broad optimism about the emerging technologies but also fearing their negative impacts — including job losses, a poll showed Wednesday.
The Gallup survey showed 79 per cent of Americans say artificial intelligence has had a “mostly positive” or “very positive” impact on their lives thus far.
At the same time, 73 per cent said they expect the increased use of AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates and 63 per cent predicted that new technologies and smart machines would widen the current chasm between rich and poor.
Asked about autonomous vehicles, 42 per cent of respondents said they would be “extremely uncomfortable” riding in a self-driving car and 62 per cent would be concerned about sharing the road with self- driving trucks.
“In general it’s fair to say there is optimism and also anxiety,” said Brandon Busteed of Gallup, which conducted the survey with Northeastern University.
The survey sought to highlight the need for changes in education to deal with the ever-shifting landscape of the latest technology, said Northeastern president Joseph Aoun.
“The AI revolution is an opportunity for us to reimagine higher education — to transform both what and how we teach,” Aoun said.
“The answer to greater artificial intelligence is greater human intelligence.”