Nearly half of Bulgarians believe AI will lead to job losses

About 45% of Bulgarians believe that artificial intelligence will lead to job losses, 37% worry that it could replace human labour in their field, and nearly one-fifth think that artificial intelligence should be banned because it poses a danger to humans, according to results of a study by Trend Agency.

The majority of Bulgarians (63%) claim to know what AI is, and every 4 out of 10 people express a negative attitude towards its use.

“Concerns reflect the desire for regulation. Only 8% of people support the idea that AI should be allowed to develop freely because it will help humans. Nearly a fifth (19%) believe that artificial intelligence should be banned, and another 57% think that it should be regulated so that it does not pose a danger to humans”, the study reads.

Young people have the most positive attitude, and with increasing age, the share of negative answers increases. Nearly two-thirds of news and publications related to artificial intelligence are of no interest.

This is the first such study in Bulgaria, which reveals the fears of technological progress in the EU’s poorest country.

As EURACTIV recently reported, the first less controversial parts of the EU’s landmark AI law have already been cleared at the technical level, whilst the provisions to promote innovation and the obligation for a fundamental rights impact assessment might follow suit.

The most acceptable for society is the use of artificial intelligence in areas such as customer relations (call centres) and the technology sector. It is supported by 39% and 34% of the people.

Self-driving vehicles and the use of artificial intelligence in medicine arouse the most incredible distrust – only 16% would trust it.

Most Bulgarians would not trust the use of artificial intelligence in areas such as education, financial services, accounting and journalism.

Almost half of the population (45%) believes that artificial intelligence will lead to the loss of jobs, and only 4% – that it will create new ones.

Another 37% worry that AI could directly threaten them by replacing human labour in the field in which they work. People up to 30 years of age worry less.

(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)