El temor a la automatización en américa latina.

Abstract

While some studies have explored automation, there is still little research that addresses the social problems it could cause. For example, according to a study proposed by the Mckinsey Global Institute (2017), in which more than two thousand work activities in eight hundred professions were examined, about half of the activities would have the potential to be automated. Social problems, such as potential mass unemployment, polarization of employment and increasing social gaps, are the issues that cause the most alarm among researchers, as these conditions could be accentuated by automation. Although, in Latin America, the technological wave is not yet visible, the application of automation could be the cause of social explosions due to the fact that its population would not be prepared to face this change. This research aims to analyze both individual and aggregate variables that influence the fear of automation in Latin America. For this, using data from Latinobarómetro, 2018, six multilevel logistic models are estimated. The results reveal that the inhabitants of the richest and most globalized countries have the least fear of these processes. Likewise, the results also suggest that fear decreases for inhabitants who do not belong to ethnic minorities