Robots may be bad for workers - 8th January 2024

A recent experiment has shown people work less hard if a robot 's on the team. The experiment took place at the Technical University of Berlin. Earlier experiments have shown people work less if their human colleague is a hard worker. This one produced similar results with a robot colleague.

The experiment at the university involved two groups. Their job was to find several problems on an electrical circuit board. One group worked with "Panda ", a robot, who helped find the mistakes. The robot group soon saw Panda worked well. The robot discovered all the problems for over half the experiment. Panda seemed reliable, so the workers trusted it.

In the experiment, scientists saw that both groups seemed to work hard. They spent the same time finding the problems. Afterwards, both groups said they felt they concentrated hard too. But the Panda group found fewer problems – just 3.3 problems. The other group, without a robot, found 4.2.

In the experiment, working with a robot had a bad effect. Scientists said it could be because workers are "looking not seeing ".

And there 's another thing of interest. These workers knew they were in an experiment. In the world of work, the problem is probably even greater.