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Apr 11, 2025

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A new study from Pew Research Center reveals a significant divergence between experts and the general public regarding artificial intelligence. While 76% of AI professionals believe the technology will benefit them personally, only 24% of U.S. adults share this optimism. Conversely, 43% of the public anticipate personal harm from AI, compared to just 15% of experts.

Reading this study reminded me of a conversation I overheard while visiting one of Ocado’s highly automated warehouses a few years ago. Back then, the warehouses relied on robots for the storage and retrieval of everyday groceries but still required humans to pick and pack the food orders into bags, before they were loaded onto vans and shipped to a customer’s address.

However, in a corner of the warehouse, a team of AI researchers had built a small lab where they were experimenting with several robotic hands that could handle packing delicate items such as fruit or eggs without damaging them.

One day, I heard one of the workers in the grocery packing line telling the colleague to his right: “Pay attention to what’s happening over there, because that’s what will replace us next year!” as he was pointing to the lab. The other person looked at the loaf of bread in front of him and replied: “I hope they’re also building a robotic stomach.”

This exchange was a great example of the gap between how experts and regular people experience and understand emerging technologies. Experts, familiar with AI's capabilities and limitations, often view it as a tool to enhance productivity and innovation. The general public, however, perceive AI as a threat to job security and personal autonomy.

The concern over job displacement is not unfounded. Supercharged by AI, automation is now moving beyond retail, automotive or manufacturing to transform all industries, replacing certain roles and in some cases creating new ones.

I’m generally reluctant to make predictions but there’s one I’m quite certain of: this wave of change brought on by generative AI will once more lack any proactive measures, including no upskilling and reskilling programs to ensure workers can adapt to the evolving job landscape.

In fact, I would argue that the transition from manual labor to automation which started three decades ago in manufacturing has been one of the biggest failures of successive administrations in North America and Europe.

Now that AI is coming for services and “knowledge work,” there is still no transparent communication about this technology's capabilities and limitations. Policymakers and industry leaders are still not collaborating to establish regulations that ensure responsible AI deployment, to protect workers' rights, or to provide fair access to AI-driven opportunities.

Think of the societal shifts we saw during the last wave of automation and the state of affairs in the United States, France or Germany today. Now close your eyes and fast forward by two decades — do you like what you see?

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