The development of new technologies has always gone hand in hand with an apprehension about the upheaval they could constitute in the world of work. In the 1980s and 1990s, the automation of production lines made workers fear that they would be laid off. In 2023, 49% of workers in all professions say that part or all of their work could be replaced by ChatGPT-type artificial intelligence, according to the latest survey carried out by the Cluster 17 Institute for Le Point *.
The survey reveals that only 24% of workers believe that their work could be performed by an AI, while almost two-thirds of managers and higher intellectual professions believe that AI could perform part of their work.
“Technical progress related to automation posed a threat to industry jobs by focusing on the difficult tasks of production lines, analyzes Stéphane Fournier, director of studies at Cluster 17. The great particularity of the artificial intelligence in our tertiary societies is its impact on socio-professional categories hitherto spared, such as executives or intermediate professions and service professions. »
Does this mean that executives fear the repercussions of these technological advances on their profession? Not really. Only a quarter of them experience the irruption of AI in their field of expertise as a “threat”, compared to 45% of employees.
“People with more qualifications and higher hierarchical ranks have greater confidence in technical progress, they are not afraid to see their profession totally substituted by AI, which they perceive as a tool that will supplement them in the menial tasks, observes Stéphane Fournier. But we have to be careful and see how far all these technologies will go… When we see the importance that ChatGPT is taking on in public opinion in such a short time, it’s a safe bet that at this rate, if we repeats a survey in two years, the level of fear will have increased in the different socio-professional categories. »
The intensity of the fear of the emergence of AI is also quite significant depending on the social backgrounds and political opinions of the respondents. “There has been a simple divide for years: the wealthier groups are more progressive, so France which is doing well is not afraid of the irruption of AI, notes the head of the study. While France, which is more vulnerable, far from metropolises and decision-making centres, which has been more affected by the effects of deindustrialization, shows greater distrust of technologies. »
To probe this level of trust in technology, the survey ends with a simple question: would you be willing to be operated on by a robot surgeon in the hospital? If 42% of respondents answer yes, the differences according to political opinions are striking. 63% of those who voted for Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election in 2022 are ready to do so, while they are only 27% among Marine Le Pen voters and 31% for those of Éric Zemmour.
“The Macronists are more optimistic and able to welcome these upheavals, while the hard-right electorate is more suspicious and restive, concludes the director of studies. The left, on the other hand, is divided: it welcomes progress, but wants it to be framed politically within the framework of social and environmental progress. »
* Study carried out by Cluster 17 for “Le Point” with a sample of 1,563 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over. The sample is made according to the quota method. Interviews conducted from May 10 to 11, 2023.
