Human Freedom and Choice in the Light of Technological Change

The focus of this year's study was on the topic "Human Freedom and Choice in the Light of Technological Change" – human freedoms and choices taking into account technological change. Almost 900 young top talents from the international network of the St. Gallen Symposium were surveyed.

Individual freedom needs clear bounds where it harms society.  

This is the clear message of the young top talents. The young up-and-coming managers demand responsible thinking and are critical of older generations: They criticize an abuse of freedom that is clearly at the expense of younger generations.

Clear criticism of new technologies that restrict our freedom of choice

The young top talents see many advantages in new technologies, but also clear downsides. Almost two-thirds (65 percent) complain that their smartphone undermines their ability to concentrate and 62 percent find that their smartphone takes too much of their time. Likewise, about two-thirds feel restricted in their freedom of information and decision-making by algorithms that filter online content.

The delegation of decisions to artificial intelligence (AI) depends on the nature of the task

This does not mean, however, that the young talents are fundamentally opposed to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in decision-making processes. Rather, they expect better decisions for various tasks in companies by integrating AI in decision-making processes. Around half of the respondents even consider the use of AI to be useful for sensitive issues such as hiring decisions, and three quarters see clear advantages in product development through the use of AI.

These are some excerpts from the results of the study – further results can be found here in the Voices of the Leaders of Tomorrow Report 2020 (PDF Download).