Articles
1. While at work, have you ever reflected that a robot or computer could do your job?
Yes: 15%
No: 85%
Don't know: 0%
Unsurprisingly engineers consider their jobs safe from the mechanical automatons they have helped to create. The consensus is that most engineering roles are too diverse and creative for robots and computers to fulfil. Robots are best at dull repetitive tasks, creating more time for engineers to do the really clever stuff.
2. Do you believe that one day a computer will be able to generate better, more optimised designs than a human engineer could achieve?
Yes: 45%
No: 45%
Don't know: 10%
With the increasing level of automation in computer-aided design and engineering software, it’s interesting to see an even split in opinion here. Those in the No camp see human creativity and problem solving as irreplaceable, whereas most who said Yes see the evolution of computing power and software as unstoppable.
3. Do you think the media overly misrepresents increased automation and robotics as a bad thing for employment?
Yes: 68%
No: 24%
Don't know: 8%
Most PE readers see themselves as better informed than the media and follow the logic that increased productivity most be pursued, or there is a risk of falling behind the market and larger redundancies. Besides which, many believe that the onward march of technology is inevitable and that resistance is futile.
4. Do you think that the future impact of automation, AI and robotics has become overhyped?
Yes: 60%
No: 32%
Don't know: 8%
PE readers poured scorn on ideas such as artificial intelligence one day ruling over humankind. Much of the blame was seen to lie at the door of over-imaginative journalists, writers and film-makers. Science fiction does not always beget science fact, it was pointed out.
5. Do you expect robots, automation or AI to significantly change your life within the next five years?
Yes: 19%
No: 77%
Don't know: 4%
No matter how exciting the future, a dose of realism must be maintained, and it seems the best to give that dose are PE readers. The majority see a “life-changing” impact within 50 years instead of five, with some pointing out that one of the major constraints is human society’s ability to adapt to change quickly.
6. As robotic technology develops, can you see a day when you’d be comfortable travelling in a fully automated vehicle?
Yes: 63%
No: 30%
Don't know: 7%
Yes, by vehicles we really meant cars, because of course automatic railways have been around for a long time. Most PE readers see automation in cars as incremental. Although they would feel uncomfortable now in an entirely automatic car, they can foresee a time when they will not.
7. Would you ever entrust the care of an elderly relative to automated sensor systems and robotic assistants?
Yes: 37%
No: 50%
Don't know: 13%
To many assisted care is where technology falters – there is a strong feeling that good care requires emotional intelligence and a personal touch that sensors and robots will never be able to recreate. However more than a third of readers would entrust care of a loved one to robots, perhaps suggesting there are some elderly relatives not so loved.
8. Do you think that surgical robots will one day perform the majority of operations within medical environments?
Yes: 39%
No: 45%
Don't know: 16%
The prevailing attitude, but only just, from engineers here is that surgery, like engineering, is a profession where technology will and should always be a tool. Even among those who were for robotic surgeons, there was a strong belief that a skilled and experienced human was needed to monitor the performance of the machine in such an important application.