AI and robots probably won’t take your job, says OECD report

In 2013, a forecast from Oxford University stunned workers by predicting huge numbers of jobs would be lost to automation and artificial intelligence.

It said 47% of jobs in the USA in 2010 were at “high risk” of being automated over the following 20 years, and 35% of jobs in the UK.

However, a report from the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) said the figure will be nearer 10% for the USA and 12% for the UK.

It said that previous forecasts exaggerated the effect of automation because they grouped jobs with the same title together without taking into account what type of projects a worker is involved in and their level of autonomy.

Robots have already automated the majority of tasks in fields like the automotive sector, and engineers are using artificial intelligence to help them come up with new designs and find new materials.

However, even relatively high-skilled jobs could soon be under threat, according to some. “The problem with all studies attempting to apply empirical evidence to this debate is they fail to take into account the accelerating improvement in the ability of AI systems," Calum Chace, author of The Economic Singularity, told the BBC. “It is a foolish person who declares today the limitations of what those machines will be capable of.”