Adults in the UK are more anxious about robots than people in any other country surveyed in a new international study examining public attitudes to robotics. The research suggests that limited exposure to robots may be shaping how people view the technology and its role in everyday life and work.
The findings come from the Robot Generation study, released by measurement technologies firm Hexagon. The research surveyed 18,000 participants across nine major markets and compared attitudes towards robotics in homes workplaces and industrial settings.
More than half of British adults at 52% say they feel worried when thinking about robots. This compares with a global average of 42%. According to the study, the UK ranks first internationally for what researchers describe as robot anxiety.
Only 30% of British adults say they have already seen or used robots in real life. Exposure levels are higher in several other countries including Germany, where 38% report direct experience and China where 75% say they have encountered robots.
Limited Exposure Linked to Robot Anxiety In the UK
The gap between anxiety and exposure appears to shape how people feel about robotics in daily life. The study shows that British adults are the most uncomfortable among the countries surveyed about interacting with a robot at home.
Around 39% say they would feel uncomfortable with a robot in the home, while 32% say they would feel comfortable. By comparison attitudes in the United States are more balanced, with 43% comfortable and 32% uncomfortable. In India Brazil and China more than 60% of adults report feeling comfortable with robots in domestic settings.
Burkhard Boeckem Chief Technology Officer at Hexagon explains that people are still deciding how robots should be used. “Across the world people aren’t simply pro-robot or anti-robot. They’re asking where robots belong what they should do and what safeguards must come first.
“In the UK the message is especially clear: confidence lags when robots feel distant or unfamiliar. Trust breaks down when robots are pushed into everyday or domestic roles before governance safeguards and human control are clearly in place. The opportunity is to build trust the right way by deploying robots where they make work safer and less physically punishing such as heavy lifting hazardous inspections and continuous monitoring.”
Workplace Robots Seen as Safer – but Trust Remains a Barrier
Across the global sample respondents appear more comfortable with robots in work environments than at home. Around 63% of adults say they would feel comfortable interacting with robots in factories and warehouses, compared with 46% who feel comfortable with robots in the home.
In the UK attitudes are slightly more cautious even in industrial settings. A total of 53% say they feel comfortable with robots in factories and warehouses which is 10 percentage points lower than the global average.
When considering workplace impact adults identify both advantages and concerns. Half of respondents say the biggest benefits delivered by robots are productivity and speed at 51% and keeping people safer by performing risky jobs at 50%.
Concerns remain around safety and security. While 41% worry that robots could replace humans in the workplace the research shows that this is not the primary fear. The most common concern globally is that robots could be hacked at 51%, followed by the possibility of malfunction or direct harm at 41%.
Michael Szollosy Research Fellow in Robotics says that direct experience can change perceptions quickly. “When people actually meet a robot especially a small friendly one the fear often disappears. You can almost hear them think ‘Oh that’s not going to take over the world.’ Exposure changes the conversation very quickly.
“If scientists and engineers want people to come with them on this journey they have a responsibility to explain why these technologies exist and what they’re actually for. If you don’t take people with you the counter-narrative sticks and once that happens it’s very hard to undo.”