Artificial intelligence: the upside of robotics

Reports of a looming jobs bloodbath have done the reputation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology no favours. A 2016 study by Citi and the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, for instance, fanned apprehension because the researchers found that two-thirds of jobs in SA were at risk of being automated. But some in the industry are more sanguine about the technology's possible effect on the country's fragile labour market. They argue that AI is an opportunity for countries that have a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ). Ryan Falkenberg, co-CEO of Somerset West-based AI firm Clevva, says SA can use the technology to build a sizeable call centre industry.