Almost eight out of 10 Spaniards (78%) have positive expectations about the impact that new technologies they will have in their life, well above those who do not understand their scope (10.7%) or who feel indifference (7.3%), fear or rejection (4%).
They are the conclusions of report Feel IT: I Evercom Study of technological perception Prepared by the communication and marketing agency in collaboration with Appinio.
disruptive
The study has analyzed the impact of four of the new technologies with the greatest disruptive potential in the short and medium term and most present today in the media: Intelligence Artificial (AI), metaverse, cryptocurrencies and big data analytics.
Among the technologies analysed, one clearly generates more positive expectations among Spaniards. The AI is the only one that generates emotions and positive expectations in more than half of Spaniards (66%), ahead of metaverse (49.7%), the analysis of big data (45%) or the cryptocurrencies (39.5%), the latter being the ones that cause the most fear or rejection (15%).
AI is the only technology that generates positive emotions and expectations
Regarding which technologies will have the most positive impact, 56.5% pointed to AI, followed by cryptocurrencies (16%), the metaverse (13%) and big data analytics (6.7%); 7.8% consider that none will have a positive impact. It is striking that the cryptocurrenciesbeing the new technology that causes the most fear or rejection, is the second option in this ranking, which could be explained by the enthusiasm of the people who support it.
Dehumanization
The most worrying aspects for Spaniards caused by new technologies are the destruction or precariousness of the employment (30.8%), the dehumanization generated in society and the loss of privacy (both in equal measure, 28.3%) or inequality (12%), as well as, in a minority (0.5%), other aspects (misuse of technology or global warming , among others).
The study also analyzes the impact of new technologies on the human connections and communication, both on a personal and work level.
The most worrying aspects caused by new technologies are the destruction or precariousness of employment
47% consider that this is negative, complicating the relationships or distancing its users, while 29.1% think it is positive and 23.8% neutral.
On the other hand, regarding the impact on the youngest and the next generations, the balance is slightly more optimistic How pessimistic: 43.1% believe that this is very positive or positive, facilitating their lives or presenting them with new opportunities, compared to 41.6% who consider that it is very negative, generating problems for which they are not prepared.
Privacy
Big tech, like Google, Amazon, Microsoft either ManzanaIn general, they have maintained the perception that Spaniards have of them (46.2%) in recent years; in 36.2% of cases it has improved, which is almost twice as many as those who indicate that it has worsened (17.7%).
Asked about the aspects that worry the most about these companies, the distribution is relatively equitable, with its impact on the privacy of users the main one (24.3%), followed by power and accumulated size (22.3%), the precariousness employment (21.3%), business practices detrimental to the user, such as planned obsolescence (16.5%) or the negative impact on mental health or issues related to the lack of digital disconnection (15.7%) .
Artificial intelligence
AI is the new technology whose expectations Spaniards consider more realistic, given that, in their opinion (56.5%) they are met or will be met in the near future, as opposed to the cryptocurrencieswhich is the new technology whose expectations are considered more exaggerated, with more marketing and promises than reality for 35% of Spaniards.
At general levels, 56.5% of Spaniards consider that new technologies, as a whole, are realistic in terms of the expectations generated around them; 32.2% admit to feeling overwhelmed or unable to assess whether these expectations are realistic. Only 10.3% believe that they are exaggerated.
Businessmen
The emotions that information related to new technologies makes entrepreneurs feel are more positive than for the rest of society. In no case, for all the technologies analysed, the percentage of entrepreneurs who state that they have positive expectations regarding them is less than 50%. The new technology that generates the greatest rejection among this group are cryptocurrencies, without reaching 10%.
There is a climate of mistrust and fear in the face of novelty, largely fueled by the frustrated expectations of the metaverse.B2B Director at Evercom
As regards the aspects that most concern businessmen, two stand out: the high cost of construction projects, digitization in their organizations and the dehumanization of the work environment (both, 23.1%), followed very closely by the dependency generated by large technology providers (19.5%) and at some distance from the impact on the workforce, having to address potential layoffs due to the impact of automation (15.5%), salary inflation and the battle to retain and attract talent (12%) and the disruption it entails for the business (6.8%).
“There is a climate of distrust and fear in the face of novelty, largely fueled by the frustrated expectations of the metaverse after the residue that Meta has left, “explains Ander Serrano, director of B2B communication at Evercom. «In response to misinformation and noise, companies and administrations have the challenge of making visible the benefits of these new technologies. Administrations must educate to promote responsible, informed and conscious use. Companies must train and drive their adoption as a competitive key.”
