Significant differences in the fear of AI in professions

A representative study by the Max Planck Institute for Human Development has found significant differences in employees' fear of jobs that can also be performed by an AI. According to the study report, the discrepancies between the individual countries with regard to the six occupational groups are mainly due to cultural differences.

The study was conducted with more than 10,000 participants in more than 20 countries and involved AIs as doctors, judges, managers, nurses, clergy and journalists. The AI in each of these professions was then rated by the participants on the psychological traits of warmth, sincerity, tolerance, fairness, competence, decisiveness, intelligence and imagination. They were also asked to indicate how afraid they were that AI could take over this role. "It is striking that the participants' level of anxiety seems to be directly related to the perceived discrepancy between these human characteristics and the capabilities of the AI," writes the Max Planck Society in its report.

On average, the highest anxiety levels were measured in India, Saudi Arabia and the USA, especially among judges and doctors. In contrast, the researchers found the lowest average values in Turkey, Japan and China, which can be attributed to historical experiences with technology, media portrayals and AI policy.

However, there are also differences between the professions themselves. AI judges were the most feared in almost all countries. This is based on concerns about fairness, transparency and moral judgment. In contrast, AI-supported journalism is the least feared. The researchers suspect this is because people can decide for themselves how to deal with the information they receive.

(tlz)