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Irish people feel almost certain that large scale job automation is coming

Written by Robert McHugh, on 28th Jan 2019. Posted in Technology

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Ninety four percent of Irish people believe that large scale job automation will occur at some point in the future, with 46% predicting this eventuality will come to pass in the very near future.
 
This is according to a study by iReach. The nationally representative survey of 1001 people found that no such certainty is apparent when considering the consequences either positive or negative of such automation.
 
When thinking about the impact of job automation on the productivity and prosperity of the Irish economy, 55% view it as a positive, with those who view the impact as a negative slightly further back at 45%. A mere 16% see no threat to employment in Ireland as advances are made in technology, with 63% of respondents who feel that technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed.
 
This positivity does not extend to future forecasts, as 76% believe that job automation will contribute to a rise in unemployment and for further 71% being solely dependent on machines in manufacturing is very dangerous.
 
The leading forms of technology and automation that people in Ireland are most used to encountering are ATMs (91%), smartphones (80%), self-checkouts (80%), automated telephone calls (76%) and online check-ins (74%).
 
Sixty three perecent do not believe that the idea of machine concierges and receptionists will become a phenomenon in the Irish hospitality industry. Fifty six perecent also predict that this “robotic” way of running a hospitality business will not become a threat in Ireland, with the top cited reason that a high level of customer service trumps a robot, as people want the personal touch (61%).
 
Source: www.businessworld.ie 

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