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Robots will take over most jobs within 30 years, experts warn - Telegraph

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Robots will take over most jobs within 30 years, experts warn
The rise of robots could lead to unemployment rates greater than 50 per cent, according to
Professor Moshe Vardi

Topio, a bipedal humanoid robot designed to play table tennis against a human being Photo: REUTERS

By Sarah Knapton, Science Editor in Washington


3:15PM GMT 13 Feb 2016

Robots will have taken over most jobs within 30 years leaving humanity facing its 'biggest challenge
ever' to find meaning in life when work is no longer necessary, according to experts.
Professor Moshe Vardi, of Rice University, in the US, claims that many middle-class professionals will
be outsources to machines within the next few decades leaving workers with more leisure time than
they have ever experienced.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual
meeting in Washington, Prof Moshe said the rise of robots could lead to unemployment rates greater

03/05/2016 03:10 p.m.

Robots will take over most jobs within 30 years, experts warn - Telegraph

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12155808/Robot...

than 50 per cent.


"We are approaching a time when machines will be able to outperform humans at almost any task,"
said Vardi, a professor in computational engineering.

Photo: ALAMY

Robots are doing more and more jobs that people used to do. Pharmacists, prison guards, boning
chicken, bartending, more and more jobs were able to mechanise them.
I believe that society needs to confront this question before it is upon us: If machines are capable of
doing almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?
"The question I want to put forward is, 'Does the technology we are developing ultimately benefit
mankind?'

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Robots will take over most jobs within 30 years, experts warn - Telegraph

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Photo: Alamy

Prof Vardi, said existing robotic and AI technologies were already eliminating a growing number of
middle-class jobs and claims that pace of advancement in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is
increasing.
In December, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore unveiled the most humanlike robot ever
created, which will work as a receptionist on campus.
With her soft skin and flowing brunette hair, Nadine does not only meet and greet visitors, smile, make
eye contact and shake hands, but she can even recognise past guests and spark up conversation based
on previous chats.

Today Airbus and the Joint Robotics Laboratory at the University of Frankfurt, also announced it was
developing humanoid robotic technology to perform difficult tasks in aircraft manufacturing.

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Robots will take over most jobs within 30 years, experts warn - Telegraph

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The company said it would relieve workers of the most dangerous and laborious tasks, allowing them
to concentrate on higher value tasks.
The robots in development can climb ladders and crawl into small spaces and are expected to join the
workforce within the next decade.
Human mini-brains to speed up Alzheimers and Parkinsons research
But Prof Vardi is unconvinced that a workforce of humanlike robots will be good for mankind.
"A typical answer is that if machines will do all our work, we will be free to pursue leisure activities,"
he said.
"I do not find this a promising future, as I do not find the prospect of leisure-only life appealing. That
seems to me a dystopia. I believe that work is essential to human well-being.

"We are approaching a time


when machines will be able to
outperform humans at almost
any task"
Professor Moshe Vardi

"Humanity is about to face perhaps its greatest challenge ever,


which is finding meaning in life after the end of 'In the sweat of
thy face shalt thou eat bread.
"We need to rise to the occasion and meet this challenge
before human labor becomes obsolete.

Whats different this time is computer scientists are working on building machines that can out
compete us in everything we can do. If machines can do all the work or even 50 per cent of the jobs
that we used to do, what will people do?"
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Copyright of Telegraph Media Group Limited 2016

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