People have a natural fear of technology putting them out of work. The word sabotage allegedly comes from French protesters who threw their wooden clogs -- sabots -- into machines to stop them working. And much of the second half of the 20th century was characterised by labour disputes in relation to the introduction of new technologies in manufacturing industries. Many workers in the services and creative industries believed they were immune to such threats, but AI has changed all that. Robot process automation (RPA) and other AI-powered activities are replacing human activities in a whole range of areas, from call centres to accountancy practices; and, as the technology gets smarter, the number of roles that can be replaced increases.

Artificial intelligence is often perceived as the harbinger of a new age in which robots take over the majority of our jobs. But there is another less alarmist perspective to this that is given much less airtime. Could AI, in fact, create jobs? There is no doubt that automation will cause some jobs to vanish. Equally, it will change some jobs beyond recognition. AI is such a driving force in modern technology that there will be changes to roles across the entire job market, even professional jobs which had, until now, seemed exempt from such automation.

Every few years, the technology world unearths a concept that will eventually do one of two things: fall flat on its face, resulting in millions (if not billions) of lost dollars for investors; or alternately, gain enough traction and widespread adoption to catapult us into a new era. Generally speaking, the former fate is often less a matter of misguided thinking than the inability of the market to do what the technology is asking it to do. They have arrived to offer us a next-generation world previously imagined only by Hollywood. Rivaled only by virtual reality in terms of its Kim Kardashian-like status for geeks, AI is currently experiencing some mega-hype – as well as criticism – for its potential to eliminate bias, streamline workflow, and ultimately shift the way we work. Along with widespread popularity come your typical garden-variety misconceptions.