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Image: © D J Shin via Wikimedia Commons

Robots are going to… make you a new job

A PwC report finally says something positive about tech and work – though there are still a few 'buts'

Well this is unusual. Apparently robots are going to create jobs for us, not take them away.

What it means: A new report looking specifically into 'artificial intellgence', or AI, says things aren't as gloomy as they seem for the future of jobs.

AI machinery is capable of things like speech recognition, decision-making, translation – stuff humans were pretty good at, until we made something that could do it better.

But this report from accountancy PwC says in some sectors AI will create as many jobs as it gets rid of. Jobs in health will increase by around 22%, in science and tech by 16%, and in education by 6%.

How? When new tech makes production processes more efficient, prices fall. That means people are able to buy just as much stuff but end up with more money in their pockets – which they go out and spend on more stuff. That 'demand' creates the need for more jobs, which humans can do, the report says.

Of course, it's not that simple. Firstly, who's to say the jobs created by the extra demand won't go to robots too? Secondly, the people losing their jobs from AI won't necessarily be the same people to take the jobs created by it – especially as most losses are in manufacturing and construction jobs, where people wouldn't easily be able to adapt to a new role in health or education.

Read the full story: Business Insider

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