Americans want big government help when robots and artificial intelligence take their jobs

The Pew Research Center wanted to gauge Americans' sentiments on robots and computers getting good enough to assume human tasks. Respondents in a national survey of 4,135 adults this May reported feeling far more worried than enthused about robots and computers performing jobs like driving cars, screening employees or taking care of the elderly. Doubters outnumbered optimists 72% to 33%. On specific tasks, the survey found the most opposition (67%) when it comes to jobs demanding judgement, such as evaluating job candidates. The sentiment was more evenly split on driverless cars and elder care, despite evidence showing computers are less error-prone than humans when it comes to driving cars (and planes, trains and other vehicles).