Bosch survey: 70 percent see AI as the most influential technology

The world is ready for the age of artificial intelligence (AI). This is the broad consensus among the more than 11,000 people surveyed worldwide for this year’s Bosch Tech Compass. Never before have respondents seen AI in such a positive light as in this year’s survey: a majority believe that AI will be the most influential technology in the coming years and, out of all technologies, will have the greatest positive impact on society.

More than half of all respondents worldwide feel ready for the changes brought about by AI. Yet there are also signs of a certain amount of “progress fatigue”: 57 percent want a pause button and would like to slow down technological development until we can better understand its effects.

Germans have the highest expectations of AI

In Germany, the expectations associated with AI are particularly high: 77 percent consider AI to be the most influential technology of the next ten years. However, as in previous years, skepticism about technological progress is also relatively high among respondents in Germany. Just 59 percent believe that technology will make the world a better place; only France is more skeptical (53 percent). Meanwhile, 71 percent of respondents worldwide are technology optimists. In Germany, only 40 percent currently feel prepared for the AI age – the lowest figure of all countries and at the same level as last year.

Where does this technology skepticism in Germany come from? Two further results could provide an answer: only 30 percent of respondents there say that the education system encouraged them to develop innovative thinking, and only 23 percent think that the country’s regulation successfully promotes innovation – putting Germany at the bottom of the rankings in both respects.

“The results of the Bosch Tech Compass indicate that we in Germany need to increase our society’s acceptance of innovations”, says Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.

A full 59 percent would encourage their child to launch a startup

A positive attitude toward innovation and risk is also a cultural issue: 59 percent of respondents worldwide would encourage their child to skip university and found a startup if they had a groundbreaking idea, but just 52 percent of German respondents share this courage to take risks. However, it’s only through this courage that the solutions of tomorrow are created. When people were asked about the areas that technological innovation should focus on, the top responses worldwide were climate change (37 percent), access to healthcare (31 percent), and cybersecurity (28 percent).

AI has the greatest positive and greatest negative impact

Not only will AI be the most influential technology of the next ten years, but it will also have the greatest positive impact on society – so say 43 percent of the survey respondents worldwide. Biotechnology and climate engineering follow at a clear distance behind, with 36 percent and 32 percent respectively believing they will have a particularly positive impact.

Respondents also see a downside, however: 34 percent rank AI above all other technologies when it comes to negative effects on society. Humanoid robots and self-driving vehicles come next.

Picture: Bosch