Publics more convinced of the downsides than potential upsides of job automation % of adults who think it is likely that ifrobots and computers were able to do much of the work currently being done by humans
Publics are generally more worried than hopeful about the prospect that robots and computers may one day be able to do much of the work done by humans today. Their greatest concern is that automation will make it harder for ordinary people to find jobs. More than eight-in-ten adults in Greece, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Canada voice such worries, and more than seven-in-ten in Hungary, Poland, Italy and Japan agree.
Many in the nations surveyed also believe that the greater use of robots and computers will worsen inequality between the rich and the poor. More than eight-in-ten in Greece, Argentina, Japan and Brazil express this view, as do more than seven-in-ten in Canada, South Africa, the U.S. and Hungary. Worsening inequality due to technological advances is a particular concern among the more highly educated in countries such as Japan, South Africa and Brazil.
And less than half the publics surveyed believe that robots and computers doing much of the work currently done by humans would lead to new, better-paying jobs. In fact, only about a quarter of Americans and Italians and roughly a third of Japanese and Hungarians hold this view. Women are less hopeful than men in Canada, Japan and Brazil. And in Canada, Greece and Japan, those without a college education are less likely than the college-educated to say that automation will lead to new, better-paying jobs.
Publics more convinced of the downsides than potential upsides of job automation  | % of adults who think it is likely that ifrobots and computers were able to do much of the work currently being  | done by humans  | The inequality between  | People would have a  | Economy efficient would be better-paying There would be new,  | the rich and poor would be  | People hard time finding jobs  | more efficient  | better-paying jobs new,  | much worse than it is today  | 87  | 37  | Greece  | 28  | 91%  | 86  | 37  | 28  | Argentina  | 89  | 77 80 79  | 45 45 47  | 75 75 81 80 83  | 37  | Brazil  | 27  | South Africa  | 47  | Canada  | 24  | 63  | 33  | Italy  | 32 35 37  | 67  | 61  | Poland  | 52  | 70  | Hungary  | 83  | 74  | 74  | Japan  | 76  | 25  | US  | 43  | Note: U.S data from Pew Research survey conducted May 1-15 2017 No U.S data for people will have hard time finding jobs In the  | U.S. the efficiency question referred to economy as a whole" and the jobs question read people economy will create new, better- finding paying jobs  | Source Spring 2018 Global Attitudes Survey. Q811--d  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 