The European Commission has just published the results of a survey of 28,000 Europeans to understand their attitudes towards digitization and automation.The survey covered the following areas:
the impact of digital technologies on society, the economy and the quality of life.
whether or not they feel they have the digital skills to work, train and take advantage of online public services.
the trust given to the information circulating on social networks
the use of robots at home or at work.
attitudes towards robots and artificial intelligence
the use of digital health services and the use of personal health data
the precautions taken with regard to security and data protection
For all the questions asked, there are significant differences between countries, education level, age, income level and socio-professional categories.Impact of digital technology: a nuanced assessment by Europeans, more reserved in France75% of Europeans surveyed believe that "the latest digital technologies are having a positive impact on the economy" . 67% consider this positive impact on their quality of life and 64% on society. The French lag behind on these three questions: 62% for the economy, 58% for quality of life and 53% for society.One of the questions in the survey asked who, whether companies, national governments or the European Union, " is best placed to take effective action to address the impact of these latest digital technologies .The response of Europeans is ambiguous: they place companies first (20%), governments second (16%) and the European Union third (13%). The French, on the other hand, put governments first (23%), companies second (20%) and, like all Europeans, the EU third (13%).Ambivalence of Europeans towards robots and artificial intelligenceThis is the third time the European Commission has undertaken a survey of European attitudes towards robots. It did so in 2012 and 2015.In 2017, the issue of robots was extended to artificial intelligence.
The question " In general, do you have a very positive, rather positive, rather negative or very negative image of robots and artificial intelligence? In Europe, positive opinions have dropped from 70% to 61% in five years. The French are amplifying the movement: only 55% of them have a positive image of robots in 2017.In 2017, 84% of Europeans surveyed agree that "robots are necessary because they can do tasks that are too difficult or dangerous for people" (83% in France). 68% believe that "robots and artificial intelligence are a good thing for society, because they help people do their jobs or daily tasks at home": only 59% and in France.88% of Europeans believe that " robots and artificial intelligence are technologies that need to be managed with caution": 93% in France.In 2012, as in 2014, 70% of Europeans had judged that " robots steal jobs ". In 2017, their proportion rose to 72% (75% in France).74% think "the use of robots and artificial intelligence will eliminate more jobs than it will create" (75% in France).44% of Europeans think that "their current job could be done by a robot or an artificial intelligence in the future": they are only 37% in France.The majority of Europeans admit that they would feel " rather uncomfortable" if they had to "be operated on by a robot" (52%), if they had to " use a robot to keep them company if they are infirm or elderly " (50%), or " to get around in a car without a driver in traffic" (58%). The French have feelings quite similar to those of Europeans as a whole: 52%, 51% and 65%.The prospect of "being assisted by a robot at work " arouses a feeling of unease among 35% of Europeans: this feeling would concern 49% of the French.Europeans confident in their digital skillsThe Commission wanted to know if European citizens consider themselves sufficiently competent in the use of digital technologies: in everyday life, for training, at work.71% of Europeans surveyed consider themselves sufficiently qualified to take advantage of digital technology in their daily lives (70% of the French), 65% to access public services online (54% of the French) and 64% to benefit from online learning opportunities (58% of the French).Among those who are working, 80% (70% of the French) believe they are sufficiently proficient in digital technologies for their job and 73% if they were to change jobs in the next few months (75% of the French).Erosion of trust in social networksThe survey was conducted in March 2017: it echoes the questions raised by the massive use of social networks and the spread of fake news during the presidential campaign in the United States.The Commission set out to measure the trust that Europeans registered on social networks place in the information circulating on them by asking the following question: "When you see or read a story published on online social networks, what makes you consider this story to be reliable?17% of Europeans surveyed consider this story trustworthy " if they trust the person who shared it" (12% in France), 19% if " the story seems well referenced " (16% in France), 36% if "the story comes from a trustworthy source - media brand or organization " (41% in France). The 7% who " generally consider stories published on online social networks to be trustworthy" (5% in France) are opposed by the 32% who consider them untrustworthy (39% in France).36% of social network users surveyed say they have already "used a fact-checking website, for example to check if a story read on online social networks was reliable" . In France, only 24% do so.A series of surveys in 2016 and 2017 had already highlighted the erosion of French people's trust in the content broadcast on social networks.The French are more willing than Europeans to share their health dataWhen asked about their willingness to "provide access to their personal health and wellness information (medical and care data, lifestyle, physical activity, nutrition, etc.)," 65% of Europeans are willing to do so with their doctor or a healthcare professional (78% in France).If anonymized, 21% of Europeans surveyed would be willing to share it with governments or public sector companies for medical research purposes (e.g., researchers developing new treatments), 14% with private sector companies for medical research purposes (e.g., companies developing new treatments), and only 5% with private sector companies for commercial purposes (e.g., companies developing new health-related services). Even anonymized.23% of the Europeans questioned would not communicate them in any case. Only 18% of the French exclude it.The French are more willing to share their health data: 78% say they are willing to share it with their doctor, 26% with public authorities or public sector companies for medical research purposes, and 19% with private sector companies for medical research purposes, as long as it is anonymized.French Internet users more attentive to privacy and security measuresFinally, a series of questions focused on the measures taken by Europeans to preserve their privacy or to anticipate security incidents.45% say they have installed anti-virus software, or changed anti-virus software (58% in France). 28% have started using different passwords for different websites (29% in France) and 35% only open emails from people or addresses they know. 20% say they have already changed the privacy settings of a browser, social network or search engine (23% in France). 39% of Europeans surveyed say they are less likely to give out personal information on websites now (42% in France).27% have decided to consult only websites they know and trust (32% in France).This Euromarometer draws a portrait of the attitudes and expectations of the French towards the digital transformations underway: they amplify the feeling of mistrust expressed by Europeans: towards the impact of digital technology, towards automation (robots and artificial intelligence), towards social networks. They are more attentive to privacy and security measures. On the other hand, they seem more willing than Europeans to share their health data.The survey was conducted by TNS in March 2017 among 28,000 people in the 28 EU countries.
