Will Robots and AI Steal Your Job? Public Opinion and Technological Change

• In Event: AI, Automation, and Political Attitudes

Abstract

The impact of technological change on the labour market surely represents an important topic for the future of work. Still, social scientists hold very different opinions on the effects of automation and Artificial Intelligence and political leaders rarely address this issue in their propaganda. Existing works suggest a link between automated jobs and support for the radical right. But what does the public at large think? How much is the average citizen concerned about its job being replaced by robots or by ChatGPT-like automated techniques? We design large-scale surveys in Germany, Italy and the United States to investigate the perceptions and opinions of respondents. We will first elicit beliefs about the automation and AI on jobs, focusing on the difference between low-skilled and high-skilled workers. Respondents will be then asked to read a techno-optimist, or a techno-pessimist or a dubitative political statement, which underline different visions of the impact of technological change on the labour market in the literature. We will then study how these narratives influence the opinions of respondents, who will answer questions on a wide array of policy options. In the data analysis, we will test hypotheses regarding polarization along political and ideological lines on the belief misperception and on the mobilization potential of the three narratives. Moreover, we will study the heterogeneity of the results depending on exposure to automation and AI.

Authors

• Alberto Parmigiani, London School of Economics

• Giacomo Battiston, Bocconi University

• Federico Boffa, Free University of Bolzano

• Eugenio Levi, Free University of Bolzano

• Steve Stillman, Princeton University Press