Nearly 40% of young professionals in Russia believe their jobs are vulnerable to automation, according to a new study by Sber’s Laboratory of Neuroscience and Human Behavior. The research, cited by Vedomosti, reveals that younger workers are more anxious about being replaced by artificial intelligence than their older counterparts. Among those aged 18 to 30, 39% said their skills and knowledge are at risk, compared to 37% of workers aged 31 to 45 and 34% of those aged 46 to 55.

The generational divide extends beyond just fear of job loss. Younger professionals worry they won’t be able to keep pace with AI’s rapid evolution in their fields. Older workers, by contrast, are more concerned about struggling to learn new software and interfaces. Respondents across all ages cited speed and cost-efficiency as the top reasons companies might turn to AI over human labor.

Alexander Vedyakhin, first deputy chairman of Sberbank’s executive board, pushed back on the anxiety. He argued that professional skills remain essential because humans are still the ones who set AI’s tasks, define its parameters, monitor its work, and interpret its results. The study suggests that while automation fears are real, the human role in directing technology isn’t going away anytime soon.

Source: RIA Novosti