Why Robots Are Bad at Doing Laundry

Afraid of robot overlords rolling in to steal your job? Take solace in the fact that these gizmos get tangled up in tasks that require dexterity and on-the-spot problem solving.

As CityLab has previously reported, an Oxford study estimates that a total of 47 percent of U.S. jobs are at risk of being mowed down by the increasingly computerized economy, squeezing the already-beleagured middle class. White-collar workers aren’t out of the woods either, reports Boston’s WGBH radio station. Silicon Valley executive Martin Ford chatted with WGBH about his new book, Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. The takeaway: robots could ultimately replace teachers, journalists (uh-oh), and employees in the service sector. Bloomberg Business has rhapsodized about vocational training that teaches people how to work alongside robots, instead of trying to tackle them and find an “off” switch.