Intelligent Machines: The jobs robots will steal first
Intelligent Machines: The jobs robots will steal first
Boston Consulting Group predicts that by 2025, up to a quarter of jobs will be replaced by either smart software or robots, while a study from Oxford University has suggested that 35% of existing UK jobs is at risk of automation in the next 20 years.
In China, humans are already building robots that will ultimately take their jobs.
Foxconn, maker of electronic devices such as Apple's iPhone, also plans a robot army although its ambitions are slightly more modest - aiming for a 30% robot workforce in the next five years.
Robots have for years been helping doctors perform surgery - at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, for example, robots assist doctors with keyhole kidney surgery.
Speed is a crucial factor in the success of such operations and the robots are able to sew blood vessels connecting donor kidneys far more quickly than humans.
Martin Ford - author of Rise of the Robots - thinks we face mass unemployment and economic collapse unless we make radical changes, such as offering humans a basic wage, a guaranteed income.
"I strongly hope that teachers, doctors and judges will remain human because sometimes you need someone to talk to," Nello Cristianini, professor of AI at Bristol University told the BBC. After all, the work we do currently is as much about talking as it is about getting a job done efficiently and, whatever they may be good at, robots engaging in office banter isn't happening any time soon.
Reference:
Article Title: Intelligent Machines: The jobs robots will steal first - BBC News
Publication Date: September 14, 2015
Website Title: BBC News
