Should robots or people do these jobs? A survey of robotics experts and non-experts about which jobs robots should do

This study builds upon previous work regarding people's attitudes toward robot workers, identifying the characteristics of occupations for which people believe robots are qualified and desired. This research updates prior research and adds a new dimension of respondent expertise in the domain of robotics (N=392, which includes 134 robotics experts and 258 non-experts). We deployed a web-based survey that asked respondents about their attitudes toward robots' suitability for a variety of jobs (n=812) from the U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET occupational information database. There were different responses from experts and non-experts about what types of jobs robots: (a) could, but should not do and (b) should, but could not do. Implications for the robotics community are discussed.