The idea of a robot taking your job may sound like the plot from the latest episode of Black Mirror. But experts predict it could soon become a reality for many people in the future. Researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne recently developed an interactive tool that reveals which jobs are most and least likely to be taken by robots. Their findings suggest that meat packers, cleaners and builders face the highest risk of being replaced by machines, while teachers, lawyers and physicists are safe for now. So how safe is your job?

When it comes to the future of intelligent robots, the first question people ask is often: how many jobs will they make disappear? Whatever the answer, the second question is likely to be: how can I make sure that my job is not among them? In a study just published in Science Robotics, a team of roboticists from EPFL and economists from the University of Lausanne offers answers to both questions. By combining the scientific and technical literature on robotic abilities with employment and wage statistics, they have developed a method to calculate which of the currently existing jobs are more at risk of being performed by machines in the near future. Additionally, they have devised a method for suggesting career transitions to jobs that are less at risk and require smallest retraining efforts.

As AI and robotics continue to advance, there are concerns that machines could soon replace humans in a wide range of occupations. Now there's a new way to tell how likely your job is to be taken over by robots or AI, and what job to shift to if you are at risk. Industrial robots have been a fixture on manufacturing lines for decades, but they have generally been dumb and dangerous, incapable of operating outside of highly controlled environments and liable to injure human workers unless safely caged. Advances in AI are starting to change that though, with more nimble and aware robots starting to move from factories and warehouses into storefronts and restaurants. Social distancing requirements due to the Covid-19 pandemic have only accelerated this trend, fueling anxiety that an increasing number of human workers may end up getting displaced by robots.

In a study just published in Science Robotics, a team of roboticists from EPFL and economists from the University of Lausanne offers answers to both questions. By combining the scientific and technical literature on robotic abilities with employment and wage statistics, they have developed a method to calculate which of the currently existing jobs are more at risk of being performed by machines in the near future. Additionally, they have devised a method for suggesting career transitions to jobs that are less at risk and require smallest retraining efforts. "There are several studies predicting how many jobs will be automated by robots, but they all focus on software robots, such as speech and image recognition, financial robo-advisers, chatbots, and so forth. Furthermore, those predictions wildly oscillate depending on how job requirements and software abilities are assessed. Here, we consider not only artificial intelligence software, but also real intelligent robots that perform physical work and we developed a method for a systematic comparison of human and robotic abilities used in hundreds of jobs," says Prof. Dario Floreano, Director of EPFL's Laboratory of Intelligent System, who led the study at EPFL.

While the idea of a robot taking your job may sound like the plot from the latest episode of Black Mirror, a new study has warned that it could become a reality for many people in the future. Researchers from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne have revealed which jobs are most and least likely to be taken by robots. Their findings suggest that meat packers, cleaners and builders face the highest risk of being replaced by machines, while teachers, lawyers and physicists are safe. 'The key challenge for society today is how to become resilient against automation,' explained Professor Rafael Lalive, who co-led the study. 'Our work provides detailed career advice for workers who face high risks of automation, which allows them to take on more secure jobs while re-using many of the skills acquired on the old job.' Based on the findings, the researchers have developed a tool (below) that reveals the automation risk of your job, and how you could reuse your abilities.