Swathes of people facing losing jobs in 'dark side' of robot revolution

Britain faces the threat of social unrest as robots take'swathes' of jobs, the Bank of England's chief economist warned today. Andy Haldane said the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution will see'the machine replacing humans doing thinking things'. He cautioned that the'dark side' of the change could be disruption on a much bigger scale than in Victorian times, with professions such as accountancy among those at risk. The stark message came amid calls for a massive skills drive to find employment for those set to be affected by the next wave of automation. In an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Haldane said: 'The first three industrial revolutions have been about largely machines replacing humans doing principally manual tasks, whereas the fourth will be different.