The robots are coming (but there will be benefits)

The robots are coming but while they might steal many of our jobs and cause significant social upheaval, it isn't all bad, delegates at the FutureScope conference in Dublin were told on Thursday. Speakers at the one-day event said there is no doubt that automation is changing the way we work and that more must be done to ensure we manage the changes effectively. Siobhan O'Shea, client services director at listed technology recruitment firm CPL, said the impact of robots in the workplace was already beginning to be felt. The rise of automation will lead "not to mass unemployment, but mass redeployment" of workers," she said. Ms O'Shea said education is a key area in which preparation for future changes needs to be made. She noted that the number of teachers in Ireland with qualifications in biology currently outnumbers those with qualifications in physics by three to one and that this needs to change. "Ireland has one of the lowest rates in Europe for lifelong learning so it presents a systemic challenge for us," she said. "With advances in technology growing what people learn at college or university now will be out of date within two years," Ms O'Shea added. Anthony Behan, industry lead in IBM's Watson IoT division said while there will be job losses, there will also be opportunities, many of which we've yet to imagine. "We have enormous amounts of jobs being created in new areas due to technological innovation, it isn't just about losing them, Mr Behan said.