The whole issue of automation is a thorny one because it's now part and parcel of a wider public and media debate about destroying jobs. However, Yoni Abittan stresses that the issue is not really about job destruction but the shifting of tasks and the creation of new jobs. "AI pushes us to bring our skills, knowledge and basic abilities up to date. It enables the creation of new fields of activity, new job descriptions," he argues, pointing out: "For instance, the InsurTech specialist Lemonade provides AI-based services. In just a few clicks, its customers can obtain insurance cover or submit a claim and receive compensation – all thanks to AI. Well, this is a roundabout way of illustrating how job destruction can be creative."

AI has had a powerfully disruptive force across a number of major business sectors. Consider the recent comment by Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet: "The largest taxi company has no taxis, that's Uber. The largest accommodation company has no real estate, that's Airbnb. The largest phone company has no infrastructure, that's Skype. The most valuable retailer has no inventory, that's Alibaba. The largest movie theatre has no movie theatres, that's Netflix."

They are coming and they will completely alter our economic reality. However, instead of planning for this revolutionary change, America's politicians -- from Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders on down -- continue to cling to the illusion that, with the right tinkering, there can be enough jobs enough for everyone, just like in the good old days. Well, the good old days are gone, and a story on the Futurism website demonstrates why: Changying Precision Technology Co.'s cellphone factory in China recently replaced 90% of its workers with machines and saw productivity increase by 250% while the number of product defects fell by 80%. This is great news for the company, not so great news for the now-unemployed workers. Because free-market capitalism moves relentlessly toward innovation and efficiency, this is a phenomenon that will be repeated in small steps and big leaps in every industrialized society.

Every year, SSON invites global innovators to the stage to share their views on trends that are disrupting the way we do business. The idea is to inspire you to think outside the box – and maybe get to your own next "big idea". Right now, one of the most significant trends is the rise of robotics across all elements of the enterprise, transforming the way business is done. The implications will impact enterprises beyond what many of us can comprehend today. Martin Ford is a futurist and New York Times best-selling author perhaps best known for his book "Rise of the Robots".

Stephen Hawking says that "we are at the most dangerous moment in the development of humanity" and that the "rise of artificial intelligence is likely to extend job destruction deep into the middle classes, with only the most caring, creative, or supervisory roles remaining." Sam Hinkie, the smartest man in sports and a Stanford grad, asks, "How are you preparing your kids for a life with 60% unemployment?" Sam Altman, the head of YCombinator, is so convinced that we're going to need to figure out new ways of providing people with a means to live that he's giving $20,000 each to 1,000 people in Oakland for a year just to see what they do with their new jobless income. Literally the smartest people in the world think an unprecedented wave of job destruction is coming with the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, software, and automation. My friends in Silicon Valley have read the Second Machine Age and Rise of the Robots and they see a wave coming.

Whether it was IBM boss Ginni Rometty, dashing onto the podium to anchor a panel on artificial intelligence, or a defiant Christine Lagarde, holding forth on the need to fight back against populism, high-powered women were everywhere at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos. Women reached a record share of attendees who scored prestigious white badges at the event. What echoed through the halls of the main Congress Centre and after-hours events, though, was the sobering truth that the tenuous gains women have made in the world economy are at risk for those further down the ladder. Especially when it comes to the jobs of the future. The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution, the rise of automation and artificial intelligence, is projected to be far more destructive globally to jobs currently favored by women than to jobs favored by men, according to the WEF.

The last few years have seen numerous studies pointing to a bleak future with technology-induced unemployment on the rise. For example, a pivotal 2013 study by researchers at the University of Oxford found that of 702 unique job types in the United States economy, around 47% were at high risk of computerisation. This was backed up by similar findings in Australia suggesting 44% of occupations – representing more than five million jobs – were at risk over the coming 10 to 15 years. Is the situation really so dire? Are we heading towards mass unemployment as computers and robots do all the work?