New Delhi: Indians are some of the most optimistic people in the world when it comes to embracing technology, despite fears that their jobs may one day be taken over by machines.
The revelation was made during a global survey prepared by SAP digital solutions and tech company Qualtrics in conjunction with this year’s India Economic Summit. Over 10,000 respondents from 29 nations had participated in it. The online poll for this survey was conducted in January this year and 834 Indians had participated in it.
The poll has found Indian respondents to be ‘highly optimistic’ about the impact of technology in their lives and livelihood. Indians are also found to believe that they can switch jobs if such a need arises, even as 50 per cent of respondents have acknowledged that their work could easily be done by a robot too.
The respondents also believe that a growing economy will continue to provide them with opportunities.
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55% Indians feel technology has made lives better
Globally, Indians are also the least sceptical about the motives of companies developing technology — less than a third of the participants said firms “only want to make money”.
Over 55 per cent Indian respondents said technology has made their lives better, while only 22 per cent of Western Europeans felt the same. On the other hand, 60 per cent of those from Sub-Saharan Africa felt new technologies had enhanced their “personal relationships”, “society” and “jobs”.
The findings reveal that technologies are perceived to improve quality of life more in developing regions of the world.
It is also interesting to note that despite India’s current economic slowdown and job crisis, only 17 per cent of respondents said it would be “somewhat difficult” to find a different employment. Only a third of the participants throughout the world shared the same optimism when it came to ease of finding jobs.
“The rise of advanced technologies has the potential to create economic and social value, and bolster India’s goal of maintaining its growth momentum,” said Sriram Gutta, head of Community Development, India and South Asia, World Economic Forum in a statement.
Gutta further said, “At this week’s India Economic Summit, it is one of the four key themes of the programme. These statistics indicate the foundation is there for accelerating the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.”
The World Economic Forum’s 33rd India Economic Summit is taking place in New Delhi from 3-4 October under the theme ‘Innovating for India: Strengthening South Asia, Impacting the World’. The two-day meeting will bring together more than 800 leaders from government, the private sector, academia and the civil society.
The sample size of this poll, however, is too small to draw generalised conclusions. The results may not be a correct representation of the entire population.
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Leftists will commit suicide if there is Job loss due to automation. Communist Raja will go apeshit.