‘Public live in fear of the rise of robots’
PEOPLE living in South Wales are among those concerned about being caught in a dystopian future in which robots take control of society, according to a new survey.
More than a third of people surveyed across the UK fear the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) could lead to robots evolving beyond our understanding and taking over.
And around 40% of us think so-called humanoids could eventually destroy humanity as we know it – concerns echoed by Professor Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk, founder of the SpaceX programme, who has previously described AI as mankind’s “biggest existential threat”.
Humans’ paranoia about androids was revealed in studies ahead of the launch of Westworld, a new Sky Atlantic TV series starring Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins – in which guests at a futuristic Wild West theme park live out their fantasies.
While the new series, produced by JJ Abrams – the man behind Star Wars: The Force Awak- ens, Star Trek and Cloverfield – is pure fantasy, people’s fears of robots taking over are very real.
One in seven people think humans will encounter human-like robots on a daily basis within 10 years, and twothirds of expect this to be the norm within the next 50 years, according to the new survey of 2,000 adults.
Men are almost twice as likely as women to relish living among androids, but Britons in general are most worried about what impact robots could have in their interactions with children, followed by worries of losing their jobs to superefficient humanoids.