Chatbots could take over eight million jobs in the UK - and women will be worst affected, a leading think tank has warned. Analysis has found nearly two-thirds of tasks carried out by workers could be automated by AI, with admin and entry-level jobs most at risk. But the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claims the'jobs apocalypse' is not inevitable if the Government acts fast to ensure humans are not replaced. With the right regulation and fiscal incentives, it has estimated AI could instead boost the UK economy by 306bn - and even increase salaries for some by over a third. The report is the first of its kind to look at the impact of generative AI - the technology that mimics the human brain in generating text, images, and videos from scratch - on the UK labour market.

Almost 8 million UK jobs could be lost to artificial intelligence in a "jobs apocalypse", according to a report warning that women, younger workers and those on lower wages are at most risk from automation. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that entry level, part-time and administrative jobs were most exposed to being replaced by AI under a "worst-case scenario" for the rollout of new technologies in the next three to five years. The thinktank warned that the UK was facing a "sliding doors" moment as growing numbers of companies adopt generative AI technologies – which can read and create text, data and software code – to automate everyday workplace tasks. The report said this first wave of AI adoption was already putting jobs at risk as growing numbers of companies introduce the technology. However, a second wave could lead to the automation of more jobs amid rapid advances in AI.

When a dishevelled zealot holds up a placard on a packed street, shouting "the end is nigh", they are at best politely ignored. Yet when the media does it, people buy newspapers. So it should be no surprise that the narrative of an imminent jobs apocalypse at the sleek, chrome hand of automation should have been so successful in recent years. Some businesses profit from threats, which perhaps explains the origin of the robots-taking-our-jobs hysteria: consultancies publishing a succession of breathless reports into the coming age of AI, which conveniently enough can become a profitable opportunity if you pay for their expensive digital transformation services. The reality is that, as with any other attempt at long-term prognostication, we don't really know to what extent automation will disrupt or indeed destroy the job market as we know it. The future is inherently unpredictable, although it would be odd to dismiss the clear trend of the last ten, 40 or even 200 years (depending on which industrial revolution you want to start with): we are automating more.

In the war between machines and mankind, the machines have gained the upper hand. It's bad enough that computers can now beat us at chess, Jeopardy, and Go. Artificial intelligence-driven algorithms are now tackling jobs once considered the exclusive province of living, breathing bipeds. That includes doctors, lawyers, teachers, and, yes, IT professionals. McKinsey estimates that roughly half of all work activities could be automated using today's technology, and that up to 30 percent of global workers could be displaced by 2030.