Malta is among the EU countries that feels the most positive about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, according to a recent Eurobarometer survey.
Respondents in Malta were the most positive across the EU about the impacts of AI on their job and the third most positive about the technology’s impact on the economy, the ‘Artificial Intelligence and the future of work’ survey found.
Only Slovenia (78%) and Lithuania (77%) were more positive about its impact on the economy than Malta (75%).
The Maltese were also among the most positive about AI’s impact on society as a whole and the most confident about its positive effects on their quality of life, while strongly indicating the technology helped their learning.
The results reflect confidence among the Maltese in their use of AI and a belief that the technology will speed up their workflow and help them offload repetitive tasks.
Yet, despite their belief in the utility of AI in the workplace, a slightly smaller proportion of Maltese (63%) than the average European (66%) were worried about it stealing people’s jobs.
Asked about specific instances of recent technologies being used in the workplace, the Maltese were the most positive in Europe about AI being used to select applicants for a job, organise employee shifts and process worker data.
The Maltese were also the most positive about it being used to monitor employees (63%) and assess their workplace performance (64%).
The results indicate their answers were not purely theoretical; when asked if they had seen examples of such uses in their own workplace, respondents in Malta were among the most likely to say they had.
The survey noted that two thirds of respondents across the EU think recent technologies have a positive impact on their job, with only one in five saying they impacted their job negatively.
“The proportions of respondents who think the impact of the most recent technologies on their current job is positive vary widely across EU Member States. This answer is given by a majority in all EU countries, particularly in Malta (85%), Sweden (78%) and Lithuania (76%),” the survey said. “At the opposite end of the scale, 56% in Portugal, 57% in France and 61% in Romania have a positive opinion.” The European average was 66%.
Some 500 respondents in Malta were interviewed online for the survey which took place between April and May last year, with some 26,000 people interviewed in total across the bloc.