Rise of the robots: Will AI be a job destroyer or creator?

People have a natural fear of technology putting them out of work. The word sabotage allegedly comes from French protesters who threw their wooden clogs -- sabots -- into machines to stop them working. And much of the second half of the 20th century was characterised by labour disputes in relation to the introduction of new technologies in manufacturing industries. Many workers in the services and creative industries believed they were immune to such threats, but AI has changed all that. Robot process automation (RPA) and other AI-powered activities are replacing human activities in a whole range of areas, from call centres to accountancy practices; and, as the technology gets smarter, the number of roles that can be replaced increases.