Switching from a nine-to-five to a nine-to-three workday could be the way forward in an increasingly hi-tech world, researchers say. A University of Otago report, released on Monday, found that while the impact of increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs was hard to predict, a shorter work week could help businesses and workers adapt. Report co-author Professor James Maclaurin said using AI alongside human workers could increase efficiency, productivity and potentially incomes. Avoiding AI, on the other hand, pushed workers into low-paid work while technology took on high value tasks. READ MORE: * Flexible work: The rise – and pros and cons – of shunning the'office' * Independent watchdog needed to probe Government's use of AI: law, computer science experts * The tech sector won't wait for us to catch up * While artificial intelligence is tipped to be'as significant as electricity', it's not coming for your job, yet "The key question is whether New Zealand will successfully deploy AI, ultimately increasing our GDP [gross domestic product], or [whether] more and more of the profits from the AI revolution flow to large, data-rich international companies such as Google and Facebook."

We've all been warned about the upcoming machine takeover in the world of work. Studies have shown that 47 percent of jobs in the United States are expected to be replaced by smart machines and other forms of automated systems in the next decade or so. In Southeast Asia, about 137 million workers are bound to lose their jobs to automation in the next 20 years. In fact, it's already happening for some companies including Walmart, Barclays, and a life insurance firm in Japan -- not to mention Amazon Go, the retail store of the future. Automation is going to be a problem as far as employment is concerned.