The first five jobs most likely to be replaced by robots

In a service economy, automation-induced unemployment typically stands apart as a metaphysical threat in the back of one’s mind rather than as an actual risk. But according to experts such as the Boston Consulting Group, 25% of all jobs will be replaced by smart software or robots, particularly if the job involves repetitive tasks such as compiling spreadsheets or writing press releases. Oxford University is even more liberal in its estimates, predicting that 35% of all UK jobs run the risk of automation in the next 20 years.

So, which are jobs are most at risk?

Taxi drivers
While app-based ride hailing companies such as Uber are redefining taxi-services by reshaping the paradigm of convenience, the company’s leadership is already looking toward the next obvious, evolution of the process: automated driving. Co-founder and chief executive Travis Kalanick claims that self-driving cars would make the process even cheaper as we’re no longer “paying for that other dude in the car.”

Although the technology and its necessary legislative changes are in their infancy with many years to go, automated taxi pods will soon begin strolling the streets of England’s Milton Keynes, acting as a proof-of-concept.

News journalist/PR Copywriter
All the earnings report and press-released based news stories will eventually be written by robots, allowing journalists to focus their efforts on generating stories from first-hand accounts and research, rather than a compiling a dry news report from the same source as one’s competitors.

Currently, companies such as Quill and Narrative Science are already able to do this. NS chief data scientists Kristian Hammond claims that in 15 years, 90% of news will be written by machines.

Telephone salesperson
When combined with existing technology, the scripted and repetitive nature of most phone-based sales jobs places them at a much higher risk than any other profession as companies are already in the process of replacing their cold-calling staff.

Book-keepers or payroll accountants
In the same way that self-driving cars will empower app-based ride hailing companies, automated accounting software will empower the end-user to perform their own turn-key accounting, with the simplicity of scanning a few documents and clicking a couple windows. Existing accounting software such as Yardi, FreshBooks, Xero, and Wave are already on brink of eliminating low-level accountants, whereas accounting managers, CPAs, and other financial professionals whose job consists of interpreting data and tax laws (aka “performing tax magic”) will remain safe.

Factory workers

Eliminating thousands of jobs yearly with each technological revolution, factory workers have been threatened by automation for nearly two centuries. But now, the process will indefinitely accelerate as advancement in the IoT, Industrial Ethernet, and robotics ensure that less man-power is actually needed to run the machines, granting factory owners remote control capabilities. Foxconn, one of Apple’s chief suppliers, aims to replace 30% of its workforce with robots in the next five years, whereas the first robot-only factory is already being built in China’s Dongguan Factory city.

Source: BBC