Is technology about to decimate white-collar work?

Kai-Fu Lee, one of China's best-known technologists and investors, thinks artificial intelligence is about to supplant many millions of the country's office workers. "This replacement is happening now, and it's happening in a true, complete decimation," Lee told a conference at MIT last week. "In my opinion, the white-collar workforce gets challenged first--blue-collar work later." Lee pointed to several of the investments made by his company, Sinovation Ventures, as clear signs of how routine office work is already being transformed by AI. For example, Lee has backed Smart Finance Group, a company that uses machine learning to determine a person's eligibility for a payday loan. Sinovation has also invested in companies that automate customer service, training, and other routine office services.