CW Jobs have run a YouGov poll asking 517 decision makers from within the IT and Technology industry what they think about how Tech will affect the future, and the fate of the world.
Highlighted findings
A quarter of those polled had a more positive outlook believing that their industry could save the world, with just 13% believing the opposite, that tech could be responsible for destroying the world.
Of the quarter believing that it could save the world, 80% of respondents felt that health and medical advancements would have the most impact.
Of the 13% who believed that tech could destroy the world, nearly three quarters chose prevention of evolution as the most likely cause.
27% of those polled believe that the Terminator and SkyNet could become a reality.
See the full poll questions and results below:
What IT professionals were asked…
Question 1
If you had to choose, which ONE, if either, of the following do you think is MORE likely of IT & Tech industries to do in the future?
- 25% Save The World
- 13% Destroy World
- 57% Neither of These
- 5% Don’t know
Base: All IT Workers
Question 2
Previously you said that you think IT & Tech industries are more likely to save the world in the future…Which, if any, of the following areas of society do you think IT & Tech industries will be responsible for saving in the future? (select all that apply)
- 80% Health (e.g. medical advancements, etc.)
- 74% The environment (e.g. finding ways to combat climate change, etc.)
- 66% Artificial Intelligence (e.g. robots to help and protect humans, etc.)
- 60% Space (e.g. exploration and expansion, asteroid detection, etc.)
- 43% Evolution (e.g. technology making us more intelligent through genetic engineering, etc.)
- 40% Military/warfare (e.g. creating technology to defend the human race, etc.)
- 9% Other
- 2% Don’t know
Base: All IT Workers who think IT industries will save the world in the future.
Question 3
Previously you said that you think IT & Tech industries are more likely to destroy the world in the future…Which, if any, of the following areas of society do you think IT & Tech industries will be responsible for destroying in the future? (Please select all that apply)
- 74% Preventing evolution (e.g. technology making us lazier, too reliant and unable to survive without it, etc.)
- 66% Military/ warfare (e.g. creating technology that could wipe out the human race, etc.)
- 44% Artificial Intelligence (e.g. evil killer robots, etc.)
- 38% The environment (e.g. creating technology that increases global warming, etc.)
- 29% Health (e.g. accidentally creating new diseases that could wipe out the human race, etc.)
- 13% Space (e.g. bringing alien attention, etc.)
- 12% Other
Base: All IT Workers who think IT industries will destroy the world in the future.
Question 4
In the film “Terminator”, there was a highly advanced artificial intelligence called ‘Skynet’_. This system was aware of the physical world and could act through robots and computer controlled systems. Once it became self-aware, it saw humanity as a threat to its existence and decided to trigger the nuclear ‘Judgment Day’ and deploy an army of Terminators against humanity. Based on the information above, to what extent to you agree or disagree that this scenario could happen in reality at some point in the future?
- 6% Strongly agree
- 21% Tend to agree
- 18% Neither agree nor disagree
- 31% Tend to disagree
- 20% Strongly disagree
- 4% Don’t know
Net:
- 27% Agree
- 52% Disagree
Base: All IT Workers (517)
*All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 517 IT & Tech Decision Makers from British Businesses. Fieldwork was undertaken between 16th and 21st April 2015. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
