Economy
The Robots Are Taking Over Someone Else's Job
A new Pew survey finds that two-thirds of Americans expect a rise in workforce automation, but few feel their own job is in danger.
Robot lawyers, news writers, doctors, and college-essay graders aren’t figments of some sci-fi fantasy—they already exist. Advances in computer science and robotics are likely to affect American workers in dramatic ways, according to academics at MIT. A 2013 Oxford University study estimated that “about 47 percent of jobs in the U.S. is at risk” from technological progress.
A new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that Americans harbor no illusions about the growing dominance of machines in the workforce. Researchers at Pew interviewed 2,001 adults in 2015 and found that around two-thirds (65 percent) believed that robots and computers will carry out “much of” the work humans currently do in the next 50 years.