Robots Are Taking Our Jobs... And It's Not The Jobs You Think
8 November 2017, 12:58 | Updated: 28 October 2019, 15:53
A recent report suggested that 15million jobs in the UK could be taken by robots - and it could well be your job.
James O'Brien asked LBC listeners to call in if their job is in danger from being replaced by a machine - and he was surprised by the range of jobs at risk.
Here's a list of the jobs which could be taken by robots.
Professional drivers
Driverless cars are already being trialled across the world. It won't be long before taxi drivers are replaced by machines.
Delivery drivers
Amazon and Costa Coffee are already trialling delivery by drone. JustEast has a robot bringing you your takeaway. Soon delivery drivers will not be needed.
Cashiers
Self-checkouts are already popular. How long before shops go self-checkout only?
Train drivers
Unions are currently striking over the introduction of driver-only operated trains. But their real concern is that it will lead to driverless trains in a matter of time.
Factory workers
In China, humans are already building robots that will ultimately take their jobs.
Accountants
Automation will mean people won’t need to hire an expensive accountant. All the data can be scanned in and a computer will do the rest.
Surgeons
Robots already assist doctors with surgery and their speed and accuracy will improve significantly in the coming years.
Journalists
8.5% of Wikipedia is already written by a robot. In 15 years’ time, 90% of news will be written by a computer too.
Lawyers
Adam told James he creates computers which allow companies to create contracts and legal contracts without the need for a lawyer. He thinks lawyers will be out of a job within 15 years.
Bartenders
Robot bartenders already exist, mixing whichever drink you want at super speed.
Estate Agents
This is one change that is already happening. Websites connect buyers with sellers and there is no need for an estate agent in between. Owners carry out the viewings and it saves both parties a fortune.
Drummers
Drumming is essentially a maths problem, making the correct noise at the correct time. A robot would be able to do that with better accuracy and timing.
Computer Programmer
In the next 10 years, computers will become cleverer than humans and many computer developers won't be able to understand their code any more. Their job will literally become telling the computer what they want them to do, caller Mike told James.
