The more general point is that computer algorithms will have a devil of a time predicting which jobs are most at risk for being replaced by computers, since they have no comprehension of the skills required to do a particular job successfully. In one study that was widely covered (including by The Washington Post, The Economist, Ars Technica, and The Verge), Oxford University researchers used the U.S. Department of Labor's O NET database, which assesses the importance of various skill competencies for hundreds of occupations. For example, using a scale of 0 to 100, O*NET gauges finger dexterity to be more important for dentists (81) than for locksmiths (72) or barbers (60). The Oxford researchers then coded each of 70 occupations as either automatable or not and correlated these yes/no assessments with O*NET's scores for nine skill categories. Using these statistical correlations, the researchers then estimated the probability of computerization for 702 occupations.

The graduating computer science students at UC Berkeley had just finished chuckling at a joke about fleets of "Google buses, Facebook shuttles and Uber-copters" lining up to whisk them them to elite jobs in Silicon Valley. The commencement ceremony for a cohort of students who, one professor confided, were worth around $25bn, was a feel-good affair. Until, that is, Gavin Newsom took to the lectern and burst the bubble. The smooth-talking Democrat, and frontrunner to win California's gubernatorial race next year, warned the students that the "plumbing of the world is radically changing". The tech industry that would make them rich, Newsom declared, was also rendering millions of other people's jobs obsolete and fueling enormous disparities in wealth.

Enjoy it while it lasts. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin may think artificial intelligence (AI) isn't going to start taking humans' jobs for 50 to 100 years, but most experts believe a revolution in automation is coming far sooner, promising massive increases in efficiency -- and job losses on a huge scale. A recent study put out by PwC estimated that as many as 30% of UK jobs could be "susceptible to automation by robots and AI" by the early 2030s -- with 38% in the US at risk, 35% in Germany, and 21% in Japan -- although it believes jobs will be created elsewhere in the economy to help offset this. Are we doing enough to prepare? Absolutely not, says Bob Moritz, global chairman of consultancy firm PwC.