What if you see it?

• Department of Political and Social Sciences

This session of the Gender Working Group features a presentation by Aina Gallego (University of Barcelona).

How do workers perceive Generative AI? More as an opportunity or as a threat for their occupational prospects? And how do these perceptions influence their policy and political preferences?

We conducted a survey experiment on around 6,000 workers in 98 occupations directly exposed to Generative AI, in Germany, Italy, and the US. Treated respondents are shown a video of ChatGPT performing the most frequent core task in their occupation. On average, they become more optimistic about the technology’s impact. Yet, a substantial share of treated respondents become more threatened.

This leads to polarisation of policy preferences: threatened individuals increase their support for technology regulation and redistribution policies, while optimistic individuals move the other way. The threatened also express warmer attitudes toward 'backlash' political parties.

Co-authors: Massimo Anelli, Italo Colantone, and Piero Stanig.

The Zoom link will be sent upon registration.