One million Hongkongers could lose their job to AI in 20 years

More than one million Hongkongers are at risk of losing their jobs to artificial intelligence over the next two decades, according to a new study by a local think tank. The One Country Two Systems Research Institute on Tuesday unveiled research which estimates about 28 per cent of the city's 3.7 million jobs are vulnerable to automation. These workers, which include secretaries, accountants and auditors, face a 70 per cent chance of being substituted for machines before 2038, the pro-Beijing research unit said. But Hong Kong employees face a lower risk of encroachment from AI compared to their counterparts in other advanced economies such as the United States, Britain and Japan. The brighter forecast for the city was due to its economic structure, which included a smaller manufacturing sector, research officer Kristine Yang said.