MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. More than half (63%) of Russians believe cool new technologies are beyond their reach, according to a poll from the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) published on the organization’s website.
"We hear about new technological discoveries and developments almost every day. However, Russians believe that they are not yet available to everyone: 63% believe that advancements made in the field of future technologies are available to only a select few or certain groups. Every third person (32%) holds the opposite opinion, believing that such developments can be used by everyone or the majority," the report says.
Respondents see these technologies as being inaccessible for the majority due to their high cost (81%). They also cite the slow development of technologies in the country (43%) and lack of knowledge to apply such developments (42%). Another 37% pointed to the lack of information about discoveries and developments, and 27% - to people's distrust of future technologies.
Russians view future technologies as artificial intelligence (29%), robotization (26%), cutting-edge medical technologies (24%), new forms of transport (20%), and space technologies (16%). The vast majority (90%) of respondents have a positive attitude to developments in the field of future technologies, but only 23% consider Russia to be a leader in this field.
Respondents expect new technologies to improve the quality of life (52%) and automate work (30%). As potential risks, the respondents named unemployment (16%), moral decay (6%), destruction of nature (6%), machine revolt (5%), reduction of communication between people, dependence on technology, total control over the population and the destruction of humanity (3% each).
The poll was conducted on February 8-9. It surveyed 1,609 Russians aged 18 and older.