Even CEOs will be replaced by robots, Jack Ma predicts

Thirty years into the future, nobody's job will be safe from the robots -- not even the CEO's. That's according to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who warned in a Monday speech that "the world will see much more pain than happiness" as automation and the internet disrupt traditional jobs worldwide. "Social conflicts in the next three decades will have an impact on all sorts of industries and walks of life," Ma, chairman of China-based e-commerce giant Alibaba, told an entrepreneurship conference in Zhengzhou, China. The disruption will even reach into the C-suites at major companies, Ma predicts, as robots are quicker and more rational than humans, and don't get bogged down in emotions -- getting angry at competitors, for example. "In 30 years, a robot will likely be on the cover of Time Magazine as the best CEO," according to Ma. To prevent social upheaval, the world must change its approach to education and establish ways to work with robots to soften the blow of automation, Ma said.