MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Most Russians are not afraid of losing jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), while one in two feels robots’ assistance in performing duties at work, as follows from a survey by the analytical center Bitrix24, the IT company 1S Bitrix told TASS.

The survey is based on an opinion poll of 1,300 Russian companies held on April 16-18. Taking part in the survey were companies in the IT segment, sales, marketing and PR, education, finance, e-commerce, logistics and others - most of them small and medium businesses.

According to the poll 55% percent of Russians believe that AI already does part of the work for them. According to the opinion of 78% of respondents artificial intelligence takes over up to 10% of their functions at work and 67% of Russians said that robots in the workplace have a favorable effect on Russia’s economic growth.

According to the research, half of Russians count on the government’s assistance in job retraining to be provided to those who may go jobless due to the introduction of artificial intelligence. Many of the polled say it is essential to step up preparations for massive robotization at schools and universities. One in five respondents said those replaced by robots must be offered new jobs, while 13% believe that if this happens, those affected must be guaranteed a mandatory income.

The national program Digital Economy provides for not just the introduction of digital technologies in the priority branches of the economy and social sphere, but also pays special attention to personnel training. The schools showing the best results in teaching mathematics, computer science and technology will be given grants for promoting experience. There are plans for creating a generally available free on-line service for mastering digital competence and the issuance of personal digital certificates for instruction in IT competences.