More than half of Australians believe robots will have more control over the world than humans within 22 years thanks to the speed of their evolution and ability to act without emotion.
The research, commissioned by think tank Thinque, also found that 67 per cent of Australians are worried that robots will become so advanced they will be able to mimic human capabilities, and 28 per cent think that is already happening.
However, these concerns are likely overblown, global futurist and strategist Anders Sörman-Nilsson said.
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“It’s a popular view of late to fear robots and artificial intelligence (AI) taking over all human jobs, leaving us obsolete, but in fact, the opposite is true,” he said.
“The advancements in AI will actually mean that jobs that focus on soft skills, such as creative thinking will be opened up for humans to take on to an extent that has never been seen before.
“These capabilities aren’t able to be learnt by robots yet and so will fall to humans to fulfil over any STEM skills which are being replicated exponentially.”
But, he warned, disruptions to the world of work will happen at a significantly faster pace than Australians workers comprehend.
“As humans, we aren’t able to develop fast enough to combat these changes in AI and so we need to respond by training ourselves to develop fundamental human capabilities in order to survive.”
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