Americans think most human jobs could be automated by 2065, finds Pew

Humans are nothing if not contrary. Technology destroying jobs is something most Americans accept will happen within their lifetimes, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, just not to their own jobs -- which most believe won't change significantly in the next 50 years. Polling just over 2,000 Americans in June and July last summer to ask about their perception of the risk of jobs being automated, the researchers found a majority (65 per cent) of Americans believe that robots and/or software will "definitely" or "probably" be capable of doing much of the work that humans do now within 50 years' time. But when the robots and the algorithms move a little closer to home – and the question becomes specifically about the future security of their own jobs -- respondents' views are very different, with an even larger majority (80 per cent) convinced their own jobs and professions will remain largely unchanged and will exist in their current form 50 years from now. More than a third (36 per cent) of respondents expressed definitive confidence that their current job or occupation will "definitely" exist in its current form five decades from now vs just six per cent saying their current role will "definitely not" exist.