The robots will take our jobs. Then what?

When it comes to the potential impact AI could bring, mass-unemployment is probably a more realistic concern for us than, say, the Skynet (the murderous AI system of the Terminator film franchise), says Martin Ford, a technology entrepreneur and author of two books about how tomorrow's technology might give a fatal blow to the social structure that we thrive on today. If we look far enough into the future, Ford says, few jobs would be safe from being automated, as algorithms with deep learning capabilities would take over not only entry-level jobs, but also those requiring years of training and experience. "In terms of jobs [that may be done by AI]… the important word there is'predictable'," Ford says. "If another smart person could study a record of everything you've done in the past in your job and based on that, learn how to do your job, then someday, maybe a machine might be able to do the same thing." Ford's warning of a jobless future is not entirely new; and as always, the idea is controversial because opponents argue that historically, workers have survived rounds of technological revolution and they always managed to find other jobs in newly emerged industries.