CEO of automation company ABB says we shouldn't fear automation

Here's a surprise: at our Disrupt Berlin event, Ulrich Spiesshofer, the CEO of 125-year old automation giant ABB, argued that automation is nothing to fear. "I think we need to take this fear extremely seriously and get people out of this fear," he said. In his view, automation and robotics has allowed millions of people to move beyond the extreme poverty line and it's the countries that embraced automation -- including the likes of China and India -- that are doing much better than some of their counterparts that have resisted automation. "Technology can be really good if you play it right," Spiesshofer noted. "The truth is that the countries with the highest robot density -- South Korea, Germany, Japan -- have the lowest unemployment rates."