Social Acceptance and Impact of Robots and Artificial Intelligence —Findings of Survey in Japan, the U.S
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
No. 211 February 1, 2017 Social Acceptance and Impact of Robots and Artificial Intelligence —Findings of Survey in Japan, the U.S. and Germany— Hiroyuki NITTO, Daisuke TANIYAMA and Hitomi INAGAKI NRI Papers No. 211 February 1, 2017 Social Acceptance and Impact of Robots and Artificial Intelligence —Findings of Survey in Japan, the U.S. and Germany— Hiroyuki NITTO, Daisuke TANIYAMA and Hitomi INAGAKI I Current Status of Social Acceptance of Robots and Artificial Intelligence II Differences in Attitudes toward and Acceptance of Robots in Japan, the U.S. and Germany III Needs and Potential of Nursing care Robots IV Senses of Values Related to Science and Technology in Japan, the U.S. and Germany, which Influence the Introduction of Robots and AI V Future Challenges oday, it is increasingly common for people to use or come into contact with robots in various T situations at home and in retail stores, hotels and hospitals. Robots are classified into several types based on their functionality (service and utility robots or those designed to communicate with humans) and appearance (humanoid robots or mechanical robots). The type of robot, to which each country attaches particular importance in the advance of robotics, reflects the sense of values and preferences of its population. Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI) has conducted a consumer survey in Japan, the U.S. and Germany on the topic of robots and artificial intelligence (AI). In Japan, respondents often associ- ate the term “robots” with “humanoid robots” that can communicate with humans and they have a high level of familiarity with robots. Of the three countries, the U.S. has the highest level of robot utilization at home and in retail stores with its people being the most enthusiastic about the future use of robots. Germany shows a strong tendency to consider robots for industrial purposes, and its people feel strong resistance to the presence of robots in their households. Japanese consumers generally have positive attitudes towards robots. However, survey findings revealed that they still lack sufficient knowledge about robots and therefore think the rise of a robot society is still far in the future, causing them to not carefully consider the correlation between hu- mans and robots. As a society, now is the time to properly understand and think about how humans should accept the potential of robots––and the artificial intelligence technologies that support the development of robots––which may essentially change our way of living. Given Japan’s rapidly aging population, there are a higher number of people who expect to utilize nursing care robots. As such, Japan is likely to see its market for nursing care robots ahead of the rest of the world. Copyright 2017 by Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. 1 NRI Papers No. 211 February 1, 2017 I Current Status of Social (B2B2C) fields such as those installed by retailers in stores, and is expected to grow further. Robots of this Acceptance of Robots and and similar types include (1) ones that help consumers find items in stores, (2) room-service robots in hotels Artificial Intelligence and (3) medical robots that deliver telemedicine service to patients. These robots are designed to assist consum- Advancements in robot and artificial intelligence (AI) ers in receiving more convenient services. technologies have drawn much attention in recent years. In fact, there are many discussions around the R&D ini- (1) Shopping assistant robots tiatives being carried out by various companies in Japan Lowe’s, a U.S. chain of retail home improvement and and abroad as well as the impact these activities would appliance stores, has partnered with Fellow Robots, a have on society. For example, there was wide media Silicon Valley start-up, to install a retail service robot coverage when Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI) named “OSHbot” at its hardware supply stores in San released a joint research report with Dr. Michael Jose, California. In this trial, when a customer tells Osborne, an Associate Professor at the University of OSHbot what he or she is looking for, OSHbot provides Oxford, in December 2015 with the headline: “49% of information about the product and its inventory, and all jobs performed by humans in Japan can be replaced even guides the customer to the item’s location within by AI and robots.” the store Note 3. In November 2015, NRI conducted an online consum- er survey in Japan, the U.S. and Germany on the topic of (2) Hotel room service robots robots and artificial intelligence Note 1. The survey results Similar trials are also taking place in hotels. Savioke, revealed the differences among consumers in the three which is also a Silicon Valley start-up, developed a room countries in terms of their knowledge, acceptance and service robot named “Relay,” which has the ability to usage intention of these technologies. This report pro- autonomously deliver new towels, toothbrushes and vides the results of our analysis and implications for tubes of toothpaste to guestrooms on behalf of hotel Japanese companies, along with a specific example of staff when guests call for room service. According to the possible emergence of the nursing care robot market. Savioke, Relay was being used at six hotels in Califor- This chapter first introduces the current state of social nia as of the end of 2015, having carried out more than acceptance of robots and AI in the U.S. and Germany, 11,000 tasks altogether Note 4. followed by an overview of applications of the latest technologies related to robots and AI that are available (3) Telemedicine robots for consumers. Since 2012, iRobot, in partnership with InTouch Health, a U.S. telehealth network provider, has been operating 1 Rise in the acceptance and contact with its telemedicine robot “RP-Vita” equipped with a cam- robots in the U.S. era, microphone and display screen. The robot enables a doctor to move anywhere in the hospital and consult According to surveys conducted by the Consumer Elec- with patients remotely. Tractica, a U.S. market intelli- tronics Association (CEA) in 2013 and 2014, many gence company, predicts that annual shipments of American consumers show a certain degree of under- telepresence robots will reach 31,600 units by 2020, standing for task-specific usage of robots. However, the with cumulative shipments during the five-year forecast usage in this case is limited to relatively simple tasks period totaling nearly 92,000 units Note 5. and consumers show much less interest in tasks involv- ing interaction and communication. Specifically, more 2 Varying levels of interest in cutting-edge than 50 percent of consumers are interested in having a technologies from country to country robot help with household chores, gardening and lawn care, and home security. One example of household ro- The levels of consumer interest in the utilization of the bots, which has gained popularity in Japan, is “Roomba,” latest technologies vary even among the developed coun- a series of floor-cleaning robots manufactured and dis- tries such as the U.S. and Germany (Figure 1). According tributed by iRobot Corporation. Another is the robotic to a survey by Dekra, a global leader in automotive in- lawn mower “Robomow” being sold in the U.S. and the spection services, 33 percent of Americans and 21 percent U.K. Nonetheless, when it comes to leisure, time spent of the French expect autonomous cars to experience their with friends or caring for pets and children, American breakthrough by 2025. In contrast, the comparable figure consumers are noticeably less interested in being in- in Germany is only 8 percent Note 6. Similarly, a survey volved with robots Note 2. held by GfK, a German market research institute, found Even so the number of opportunities for American that 40 percent of American respondents are interested in consumers to come in direct contact with robots has mobile payments using a smartwatch, whereas only 20 been increasing in the business-to-business-to-consumer percent of German consumers have such interest Note 7. Social Acceptance and Impact of Robots and Artificial Intelligence Copyright 2017 by Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. 2 NRI Papers No. 211 February 1, 2017 Figure 1. Country-by-country difference in consumers’ interest in the latest technology Percentage of people expecting Consumers’ interest in mobile payments self-driving cars to hit the roads by 2025 by smartwatch 33% 54% 40% 21% 27% 20% 8% U.S. France Germany China U.S. U.K. Germany Source: Dekra, “A general consumer survey on autonomous Source: GfK, “A survey on smartwatches with 1,000 smartphone driving cars” (2015) owners interviewed” (2014) 3 Types of robots; different positioning The third group consists of robots with human-like strategies by U.S., European and appearance such as “Pepper” that also communicate Japanese companies with humans. Many of the robots that belong to this cat- egory are being manufactured by Japanese companies. Both in Japan and in the U.S., the majority of robots be- Although Aldebaran Robotics, which develops and mar- ing sold in the market are ones that perform specific kets “Nao,” is originally a French company, the fact that functions such as “Roomba,” the floor cleaning robot it is a subsidiary of SoftBank in Japan means the third previously mentioned. group as a whole consists almost entirely of Japanese On the other hand, robots that communicate with hu- products. mans are called “social robots,” whose capabilities The country-by-country differences in robotics devel- continue to improve as AI-related breakthroughs are opment trends are considered to be largely influenced seen in the area of deep learning (technology enabling by the sense of values and preferences of the population machines to automatically identify and extract the most of each country.