Up to 74% of UAE workers trust robots more than their managers – survey

Up to 74 per cent of workers in the UAE trust robots over their managers, a new survey has found.

The global AI at Work study by Oracle and research firm Future Workplace found that 64 per cent of people trust a robot more than their manager and half have turned to a robot instead of their manager for advice.

In the UAE, more men (76 per cent) than women (64 per cent) have turned to AI over their managers.

When asked what robots can do better than their managers, UAE survey respondents said robots are better at maintaining work schedules (42 per cent), problem solving (34 per cent) and providing unbiased information (32 per cent).

In terms of tasks that managers can do better than robots, UAE workers highlighted aspects such as understanding their feelings (46 per cent), coaching them (32 per cent) and evaluating team performance (25 per cent).

Overall, the study also found that AI is becoming more prominent in the workplace with 50 per cent of workers worldwide currently using some form of AI at work compared to only 32 per cent last year.

Workers in the UAE (62 per cent), China (77 per cent) and India (78 per cent) have adopted AI over 2X more than those in France (32 per cent) and Japan (29 per cent), it found.

The majority (65 per cent) of workers are “optimistic, excited and grateful” about having robot co-workers and nearly a quarter report having a “loving and gratifying relationship with AI at work”.

In the UAE, 44 per cent of those surveyed claimed to be excited about AI. However, 88 per cent of them (and 84 per cent of HR leaders) said they find it challenging to keep up with the pace of technological changes in the workplace.

UAE workers want a simplified experience with AI at work, asking for a better user interface (43 per cent), best practice training (41 per cent) and an experience that is personalised to their behaviour (35 per cent).

Privacy (41 per cent) and security (40 per cent) were cited as the main concerns preventing UAE workers from using AI at work.

“The latest advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence are rapidly reaching mainstream, resulting in a massive shift in the way people across the world interact with technology and their teams,” said Emily He, SVP, Human Capital Management Cloud Business Group at Oracle.

“The relationship between humans and machines is being redefined at work, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach to successfully managing this change. Instead, organisations need to partner with their HR organisation to personalise the approach to implementing AI at work in order to meet the changing expectations of their teams around the world.”

The study surveyed 8,370 employees, managers and HR leaders across 10 countries from July 2 to August 9, 2019.