roboticsAccording to a study by KPMG, nearly 7 in 10 Canadians are excited by the potential of technology to dramatically improve their lives but believe the real advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and machine learning are still years away.

Specifically, the study round that 69 per cent of Canadians are excited, 22 per cent are very excited by the potential of AI, robotics and machine learning. Conversely, 47 are somewhat excited but think advances are still years away while 16 percent are not very excited and 15 per cent are concerned that technology is taking over.

“It is great to see that Canadians believe in and embrace the potential of new technologies but the runway to get there is not nearly as long as Canadians think,” says Peter Hughes, Partner and Digital Services Leader for KPMG. “I think the speed of change is happening faster than people realize but the difference is that our definition of ‘fast’ continues to change.”

According to the KPMG survey, only 11 percent of Canadians think new technologies will take their jobs while 7 percent expect their job to be automated and 4 percent expect their job to be eliminated altogether. The majority, 55 per cent, say technology changes are a constant factor in their jobs while 35 per cent don’t expect technology to impact what they do.

“While it is difficult to predict the exact impact technology advances will have on any given job, it is clear technology will have an increasing impact on the way people work,” adds Hughes. “As the majority of Canadians told us, technology has been reshaping their jobs for years. What we can expect going forward is that technologies like AI, robotics and machine learning will increasingly displace ‘tasks’ and whole parts of jobs, making some obsolete, while introducing new roles and capabilities not previously imagined.”
www.kpmg.ca