Participants’ Evaluation of the Likelihood That Robots Can Work Effectively in Different Occupations

Occupation Somewhat or very unlikely (%) Neutral (%) Somewhat or very likely (%)

television news anchor 24 9 67

teacher 37 16 47

firefighter 62 9 30

surgeon 74 9 16

tour guide 10 8 82

Rows in the table may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Georgia Tech roboticists De’Aira Bryant and Ayanna Howard, along with ethicist Jason Borenstein, were interested in people’s perceptions of robots' competence. They recruited participants and asked them how likely they think it is that a robot could do the work required in various occupations. Participants’ evaluations varied widely depending on which occupation was being considered; for example, ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?

Question

Participants’ Evaluation of the Likelihood That Robots Can Work Effectively in Different Occupations
Occupation	Somewhat or very unlikely (%)	Neutral (%)	Somewhat or very likely (%)
television news anchor	24	9	67
teacher	37	16	47
firefighter	62	9	30
surgeon	74	9	16
tour guide	10	8	82

Rows in the table may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Georgia Tech roboticists De’Aira Bryant and Ayanna Howard, along with ethicist Jason Borenstein, were interested in people’s perceptions of robots' competence. They recruited participants and asked them how likely they think it is that a robot could do the work required in various occupations. Participants’ evaluations varied widely depending on which occupation was being considered; for example, ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the example?

Accepted Answer

82% of participants believe that it is somewhat or very likely that a robot could work effectively as a tour guide, but only 16% believe that it is somewhat or very likely that a robot could work as a surgeon.

Answer

47% of participants believe that it is somewhat or very likely that a robot could work effectively as a teacher, but 37% of respondents believe that it is somewhat or very unlikely that a robot could do so.

Answer

9% of participants were neutral about whether a robot could work effectively as a television news anchor, which is the same percent of participants who were neutral when asked about a robot working as a surgeon.

Answer

62% of participants believe that it is somewhat or very unlikely that a robot could work effectively as a firefighter.