A couple of years ago the European Commission released a Eurobarometer survey, which was designed to explore the opinion of citizens towards digitization and automation in daily life.

The survey revealed that the vast majority of respondents have a positive view of digital technologies, whether on the economy, quality of life or society as a whole. What’s more, these figures rise the more familiar people are with modern technologies.

Might this general level of optimism be changing?  A recent study from a team from Johannes Kepler Universität Linz and Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg suggests that Europeans are much less enthusiastic about robotics technology than they were a few years ago however.

Familiarity breeds contempt

Whereas the 2017 Eurobarometer survey suggested that acceptance of robotics increased as people were more familiar with the technology, this latest research, which analyzed several editions of the Eurobarometer data, suggests the opposite might be the case.  The authors highlight that robots are an increasing presence in our daily lives, yet Europeans are increasingly uncomfortable with them.

Our doubts are especially strong when it comes to robotics in the workplace, fuelled no doubt by the constant stream of stories about new technologies automating our jobs.  Despite all of this however, the authors still reveal that the use of robots in the workplace are still viewed more favorably than in areas such as robotic surgery and autonomous vehicles.

The authors suggest that people tend to be more positive towards robots when they have a rather vague concept of them, with that feeling souring as the concept becomes more concrete.  This perhaps goes some way towards explaining why attitudes towards the technology appear to be worsening, from the initial survey in 2012 to the latest in 2017.

It should be noted however that even this has to be taken in context.  For instance, the 2017 survey revealed that an impressive 84% of respondents believed there are many jobs to which robots are best suited, with nearly 70% regarding robots and AI as good for society. This positive perception was significantly more prominent among those with some knowledge of the topic.

So we should perhaps be wary of reading too much into apparent fear across society of the coming tech apocalypse, but the study does remind us to try and take a long-term look at how attitudes towards technology are changing, especially as society becomes more familiar with them.

Popular perception

A recent study from the Royal Society highlighted how the popular narrative around technology is guiding public opinion, but cast doubt on the reliability of much of the messaging in the media, especially around technologies such as AI.

“Both fictional and many non-fictional narratives focus on issues that form either a very small subset of contemporary AI research, or that are decades if not centuries away from becoming a technological reality,” the authors say. “This disconnect between the narratives and the reality of the technology can have several major negative consequences.”

This inaccurate narrative operates at both extremes, with utopian fantasies fuelling a bubble of hype that the technology cannot possibly meet. This bubble is not purely the fault of commentators, but also many in the industry who wish to puff up the capabilities of their technology. This can be damaging as when the reality fails to match the hype, it can damage public confidence in the technology.

Similarly, false fears can also be hugely damaging, as much of the debate around the impact of AI on the workplace has been thus far. This form of narrative has some similarities with the hype-driven form, as both place far too much credibility in outlandish claims of what AI can do. What’s more, they also distract us from discussions that do need to be had, but which are often harder to sell.

As we’ve seen in various other spheres, a lack of literacy among the public can help to create skewed opinions, which undermines the ability to  progress in a sensible way.  Given the implications of the various technologies involved in the 4th industrial revolution, this is perhaps more pressing than ever before.