People trust robots and turn to them for advice more than their managers

Contrary to common fears around how robots will impact jobs, leaders across the globe are reporting increased adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots at work and many are welcoming it with love and optimism. According to the second annual "AI at Work" study of 8,370 employees, managers and HR leaders across 10 countries, including the UAE, conducted by Oracle and research firm Future Workplace, 64% of the people trust a robot more than their managers and half have turned to a robot instead of their manager for advice. Rahul Misra, vice-president for applications at Oracle Lower Gulf, told TechRadar Middle East that 82% of people think robots can do things better than their managers. In the UAE, respondents said robots are better at maintaining work schedules (42%), problem-solving (34%) and providing unbiased information (32%) while the top three tasks where managers are better than robots were understanding feelings (46%), coaching them (32%) and evaluating team performance (25%). "UAE is building a future based on tech innovation. Anything where the managers' role does not have an emotional quotient, people believe they can work with a fact-based model," he said.