Brits are ‘deliberately sabotaging workplace robots’ over fears machines will nick their jobs
BRITS are deliberately 'sabotaging' workplace robots so they can't be replaced, according to recent reports.
A new study has found that the UK is less accepting of workplace tech when compared to other countries.
According to the , research by De Montfort University in Leicester found that tensions between humans and workplace robots are created because British employers don't explain why they're using them.
The leader of the study reportedly told the publication: "We heard stories of workers standing in the way of robots, and minor acts of sabotage – and not playing along with them.
"The UK seems to have a problem with diffusion and take-up of technology."
De Montfort University denies that the researcher made these claims.
The how the UK contrasts with other countries in its attitudes towards workplace tech.
It highlighted that workers in Norway give robots affectionate names and use them as a way to avoid repetitive or more strenuous tasks.
A report by global forecasting company Oxford Economics recently predicted that 20 million people will have been replaced by workplace robots in 2030.
In the UK, East Yorkshire, Northern Lincolnshire, Shropshire, Stafordshire, Cumbria, West Wales and the Valleys are said to be the most 'vulnerable' areas when it comes to the rise of robots.
Oxford Economics predicts that these places are most likely to see the rise of machines because they are 'relatively dependent on manufacturing for employment'.
Starship Technologies, a delivery company based in the US, admitted last year that people often kick their robots as they roll down the streets.
British workers may not have anything to worry about just yet as the De Montfort University report found that UK businesses were struggling to find robot alternative 'cost effective'.
However, this was largely due to the cost of ensuring a smooth implementation of robots into human work forces.
Earlier this month, MPs called for an urgent investment in workplace robots.
They think that the tech will actually secure human jobs, create new roles and make the UK more competitive on the global market.
What is artificial intelligence?
Here's what you need to know...
- Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is a type of computer software
- Typically, a computer will do what you tell it to do
- But artificial intelligence simulates the human mind, and can make its own deductions, inferences or decisions
- A simple computer might let you set an alarm to wake you up
- But an AI system might scan your emails, work out that you’ve got a meeting tomorrow, and then set an alarm and plan a journey for you
- AI tech is often “trained” – which means it observes something (potentially even a human) then learns about a task over time
- For instance, an AI system can be fed thousands of photos of human faces, then generate photos of human faces all on its own
- Some experts have raised concerns that humans will eventually lose control of super-intelligent AI
- But the tech world is still divided over whether or not AI tech will eventually kill us all in a Terminator-style apocalypse
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