Robot anxiety is highest where robots are least visible, new global study from Hexagon finds

Rhea-AI Summary

Hexagon (NYSE:B) released the Robot Generation study across nine markets and 18,000 participants on March 10, 2026. The research finds robot anxiety is highest where robots are least visible (UK 52%) and lowest in high-exposure markets (South Korea 29%). Security is the top worry (51%). The study links visibility, clear purpose, and control to greater public trust and notes strong comfort with robots in factories and for dangerous tasks.

Positive

• High exposure correlates with enthusiasm: China 75% seen robots, 81% excited
• Majority cite safety benefits: 50% say robots improve safety
• Productivity benefit noted: 51% cite improved productivity in dangerous tasks
• Clear settings comfort: 63% comfortable with robots in factories and warehouses

Negative

• UK highest robot anxiety at 52% while only 30% have seen/used robots
• Security/hacking is top concern: 51% of adults worried about misuse
• Low comfort in homes and classrooms: 46% and 39% comfortable respectively
• Job replacement concern remains significant at 41% of adults

Key Figures

UK robot anxiety: 52% South Korea anxiety: 29% China robot exposure: 75% +5 more

8 metrics

UK robot anxiety 52% Share of UK adults worried something might go wrong with robots

South Korea anxiety 29% Share of South Korean adults reporting robot anxiety

China robot exposure 75% Chinese adults who have seen or used robots

China excitement 81% Chinese adults excited about robots’ potential

Security concern 51% Adults citing hacking/misuse of robots as top worry

Job replacement worry 41% Adults worried about being replaced by robots at work

Adults surveyed 9,000 Number of adults surveyed across nine markets

Children surveyed 9,000 Number of children aged 8–18 surveyed

Market Reality Check

Price: $45.81 Vol: Volume 10,238,948 is at 0...

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$45.81 Last Close

Volume Volume 10,238,948 is at 0.68x the 20-day average of 14,998,871 shares. low

Technical Price 45.815 is trading above the 200-day MA at 33.68, indicating a pre-existing uptrend.

Peers on Argus

Barrick’s pre-news gain of 0.86% was modest versus key gold peers, which rose be...

Barrick’s pre-news gain of 0.86% was modest versus key gold peers, which rose between 3.37% (KGC) and 4.28% (FNV, AEM). This suggests broader gold strength, but Barrick moved less than its closest peers.

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Feb 27 (Neutral)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Feb 27	Share count update	Neutral	+0.8%	BioArctic reported updated share and vote counts under option program.
Feb 27	Annual filings posted	Neutral	+0.8%	Barrick made its 2025 annual report and technical filings available.
Feb 24	Leadership changes	Neutral	+0.2%	Barrick announced new legal and global affairs executives to its committee.
Feb 11	Earnings presentation invite	Neutral	+1.5%	BioArctic invited investors to its upcoming Q4 2025 report presentation.
Feb 06	Royalty sales update	Positive	+2.7%	BioArctic highlighted Q4 2025 Leqembi sales and increased royalty income.

Pattern Detected

Recent neutral, informational releases have typically coincided with small positive price reactions, suggesting a mild tendency for the stock to drift higher on routine news.

Recent Company History

Over the past months, news flow tied to ticker B has been mainly informational: share-count updates and royalty data for BioArctic, and disclosure, leadership and technical-report filings for Barrick. These items, including a detailed 2025 annual information release and NI 43-101 reports, were followed by modest positive moves of up to 2.71%. Today’s robotics-perception study from Hexagon is similarly non-financial and brand-oriented, fitting into a pattern where neutral announcements align with small, positive price responses.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement centers on Hexagon’s global survey of 18,000 participants across nine markets, hig...

Analysis

This announcement centers on Hexagon’s global survey of 18,000 participants across nine markets, highlighting how exposure to robots and AI shapes public anxiety and excitement. For investors following ticker B, the study is primarily thematic and brand-related rather than tied to production, margins, or capital allocation. It sits against a backdrop of recent informational filings and technical reports, so key metrics to watch remain operational performance, cash generation, and future regulatory disclosures.

Key Terms

ai chatbots, robot

2 terms

ai chatbots technical

"56% said they consider AI chatbots to be robots."

AI chatbots are software programs that use artificial intelligence to understand and respond to written or spoken questions, like a virtual assistant that can carry on a conversation. Investors care because they can automate customer service, speed up workflows, and create new products that may reduce costs or boost sales, similar to hiring many fast, inexpensive employees that work around the clock. Their performance and adoption can materially affect a company’s revenue and expenses.

robot technical

"'Robot' in this context means a machine that can carry out tasks..."

A robot is a programmable machine that performs tasks automatically, often using sensors and motors to move, sense, and interact with its surroundings. For investors, robots matter because they can act like automated employees or specialized tools—cutting labor costs, boosting output, creating new products or services, and changing competitive dynamics and regulatory exposure for companies that build or use them.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

• A global split in confidence: UK adults are most anxious (52%) vs South Korea least (29%), while high-exposure markets like China (75% of adults have seen/used robots) are also the most excited about robots' potential (81%)
• The biggest concern is security, not jobs: Hacking is the top concern of adults (51%), well ahead of being replaced at work (41%) and trust (24%).
• Hexagon's global study finds "robot anxiety" is context dependent: it's highest where robots are least visible, and falls when people can see robots working safely alongside humans

LONDON, March 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new global study from Hexagon, the global leader in measurement technologies, reveals wide differences in how people around the world feel about robotics. The Robot Generation research, spanning nine major markets and 18,000 participants, finds that anxieties about robots are most acute where they are least visible in everyday life.

Across nine major markets, the UK ranks highest in robot anxiety, with 52% of adults saying they feel worried that something might go wrong when they think about interacting with or working alongside robots. By contrast, South Korean adults report the lowest anxiety, at just 29%.

Robot anxiety league table

% of adults who say "I feel worried (something might go wrong)" describes how they feel when thinking about robots

1. UK — 52%
2. US — 45% 
3. Brazil — 45% 
4. Germany — 44% 
5. China — 44% 
6. India — 42%
7. Switzerland — 39%
8. Japan — 35%
9. South Korea — 29%

The study suggests anxiety levels are closely correlated with exposure to robots in everyday life. For example, British adults are the least likely to have seen or used robots in real life (30%) and are the most worried (52%). Interestingly, when asked about AI, 61% of UK adults admitted to having used it in the past three months, and 56% said they consider AI chatbots to be robots. This suggests anxiety levels spike when people think about physical AI, rather than software-based technologies, which have become embedded in day-to-day life.

Meanwhile, Chinese adults are the most likely to have seen or used robots (75%) and are also the most excited about their future potential (81%). In China, 90% of adults have used AI in the past three months, and 76% of adults consider AI chatbots 'robots'.

Robot anxiety is context-dependent

The findings strongly suggest that people are not broadly "anti-robot". Instead, attitudes are closely tied to place and task. Comfort levels rise sharply when robots are seen as solving clear, practical problems.

For this reason, adults are most comfortable with robots in factories and warehouses (63%, compared with 46% who are comfortable with robots in the home or 39% in classrooms), where tasks are well defined, and safety standards are well understood. Support is also strongest for robots that take on dangerous or physically demanding work, with half of respondents citing improved safety (50%) and productivity (51%) as the main benefits for robots in these contexts.

Interestingly, this suggests that the popular assumption that people are most worried about job losses or machines "going rogue" isn't the public's top concern. Instead, the biggest source of anxiety is security.

When asked what worries them most about the growing use of robots at work, a majority of adults (51%) cited the risk of robots being hacked or misused, putting data and systems at risk. This outranks concerns about physical malfunction or harm (41%) and job replacement (41%).

The keys to reducing robot anxiety

According to Hexagon, the findings point to a clear path for building public trust: visibility, purpose, and control.

"People are not having a single abstract debate about 'robotics,'" said Burkhard Boeckem, CTO at Hexagon. "They are making practical judgments about where robots, in all their form factors, belong, what they should do, and how securely they are governed. Anxiety grows where robots feel invisible, poorly understood, or out of human control."

The study suggests that robot anxiety falls when people can see robots working safely alongside humans, doing clearly defined jobs, with strong safeguards around data and decision-making.

"Trust is built through experience and clear boundaries," Boeckem added. "When people understand what robots are for, and what they are not, confidence follows."

Trust

"It's not just 'do you trust AI?' It's which tool, used for what? A robot helping children learn is very different from an AI system used in defence, even though we often talk about them as the same thing." Said Dr Jim Everett, Associate Professor in Moral Psychology. "What you want to foster is appropriate trust, or appropriate reliance, where people clearly understand when a system is useful and when they should be cautious."

"When people actually meet a robot, especially a small, friendly one, the fear often disappears. You can almost hear them think, 'Oh, that's not going to take over the world.' Exposure changes the conversation very quickly." Said Michael Szollosy, Research Fellow in Robotics. "If scientists and engineers want people to come with them on this journey, they have a responsibility to explain why these technologies exist and what they're actually for. If you don't take people with you, the counter-narrative sticks and once that happens, it's very hard to undo."

Methodology:

The Hexagon Robot Generation study surveyed 9000 adults and 9000 children aged 8–18 across the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, China, Brazil and India. The survey was carried out by Vitreous World on behalf of Hexagon between Oct – Nov 2025.

'Robot' in this context means a machine that can carry out tasks either completely on its own or with human guidance. These tasks could be pre-programmed or the robot could be acting independently. Robots can be found in many forms — for example, machines that build products, deliver goods, or help at home. They don't always look like people.

About Hexagon:

Hexagon is the global leader in measurement technologies. We provide the confidence that vital industries rely on to build, navigate, and innovate. From microns to Mars, our solutions ensure productivity, quality, safety, and sustainability in everything from manufacturing and construction to mining and autonomous systems.

Hexagon (Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXA B) has approximately 24,800 employees in 50 countries and net sales of approximately 5.4bn EUR.

Learn more at hexagon.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:  

Carla Gutierrez, Senior Director, Communications, media@hexagon.com
Harriet Funston, Senior Account Director, MikeWorldWide (MWW), hmasters@mww.com

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/robot-anxiety-is-highest-where-robots-are-least-visible-new-global-study-from-hexagon-finds-302706635.html

SOURCE Hexagon

FAQ

What did Hexagon's Robot Generation study find about UK robot anxiety (B)?

UK adults reported the highest robot anxiety at 52%, a notably elevated level. According to Hexagon, the UK also had the lowest reported exposure to robots (30%), suggesting anxiety is linked to limited real-world contact with robots.

How does exposure to robots affect attitudes in Hexagon's study of B?

Exposure reduces anxiety and raises excitement about robots' potential, per the study. According to Hexagon, markets with high visibility—like China where 75% have seen robots—also show higher excitement (81%) and greater acceptance.

What is the biggest public concern about robots, according to Hexagon (B)?

Security is the top worry: 51% of adults fear robots could be hacked or misused. According to Hexagon, this concern outranks fears of physical malfunction or job replacement, which both register around 41%.

Where are people most comfortable with robots in Hexagon's Robot Generation study (B)?

People are most comfortable with robots in factories and warehouses, with 63% expressing comfort. According to Hexagon, defined tasks and understood safety standards drive acceptance compared with homes (46%) or classrooms (39%).

What steps does Hexagon recommend to reduce robot anxiety for investors and policymakers (B)?

Increase visibility, clarify purpose, and strengthen control and safeguards around robots. According to Hexagon, trust grows when people see robots working safely, understand their role, and know data and decision-making are governed securely.