The research of more than 2,000 UK workers, conducted by Industrial Vision Systems (IVS), found that 39% would be happy if a factory used artificial intelligence robots to make decisions on quality control and a further 10% would be very happy.
However, in contrast, the research also found some stark misconceptions about the impact robots and artificial intelligence can have in aiding productivity in the workplace.
A quarter of employees stated that if they had a robot colleague assisting them at work, they would feel threatened that they might take their job. In addition, 22% said that they would be sad that it's potentially one less person to talk to in the workplace and another 18% said that they would be afraid the robot would make a mistake.
In comparison, just 11% said that they were confident that the job would be done well if they had a robot colleague assisting them at work, and 13% were generally happy with the thought.
Comments IVS director Earl Yardley: “These survey results are interesting as we genuinely thought we had crossed to a point where people had started to grasp the benefits that working with automation and robotics can bring.
“This survey provides us with the opportunity to highlight to UK workers that they shouldn’t be afraid that they are going to be replaced by vision robotics. In fact, the opposite could be said.
“Collaborative robots are designed so that the robot and human can work side by side without barriers. By offering ready-to-run inspection solutions utilising robots and vision in tandem, we are opening a new era for real-time machine vision inspection in manufacturing.”
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