Good or
bad, technology drives change.
It turns out that most adults see technology as the biggest driver of change -- and think that’s a good thing.
These are among the findings in the
seventh annual trends report by Ford, which examines the drivers of behavioral change around the world through a survey of 13,000 adults, conducted by Harris Insights and Analytics for Ford.
The majority (87%) of adults say technology is the biggest driver of today’s change and 79% say that technology is a force for good.
That doesn’t mean that consumers like all
the change that comes about due to technology. For example, 69% of millennials would like to undo some behavioral changes that occurred because of technology. Likewise, for 68% of those in Gen Z, 62%
of Gen X and 53% of boomers.
Many consumers also have some thoughts on artificial intelligence. The majority (57%) of both Gen Z-ers and millennials say artificial intelligence will be
stronger than the human mind within 10 years.
However, nearly half (48%) of women and 39% of men say they don’t really understand artificial intelligence and 44% of women and 38% of men
say they’re afraid of it.
Despite the flood of technology hitting the market, many consumers seem quite aware of the potential downsides.
For example, 69% say they should have
mandatory timeouts from their devices, 76% say they should do more to exercise self-care and 45% say they envy people who can disconnect from their devices.
But then again, some people are
pretty wedded to their tech devices.
A quarter (25%) of Gen Z-ers and millennials say they would rather lose their ability to smell than give up their device.