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Our world may face a hidden but great danger from the proliferation of robots and automated systems. But the source of the problem is the person himself, his psychology. A study by scientists from the Technical University of Berlin showed that teamwork between humans and robots not only brings benefits, but also creates certain risks.

Two groups of people trained to look for defects in printed circuit boards participated in the experiment. The first group was told that payments had been pre-reviewed and approved by the robot. In conclusion, Although both groups spent the same amount of time on work, the percentage of errors and defects missed in the first group was significantly higher than in the second.

This phenomenon was given the traditional name “social loafing”. It describes a person’s behavior at work. Relies too much on another team member, resulting in reduced own effort and attention. This is because the employee does not feel personal responsibility for the outcome and therefore has no incentive to try.

This phenomenon is negative in itself, but what’s worse is that people are starting to perceive robots as colleagues at work, rather than as tools to complete tasks. And they transfer it to the mechanism, involuntarily removing responsibility for the result of their activities. As a result, the person gives up control over the situation; for example, he stops watching the road and completely relies on the autopilot, which can lead to an accident.