Prediction by Rice Univ. Prof. Moshe Vardi.
By Dileep Thekkethil
The future of the working class seems to be bleak as robots will take over the jobs of more than half of the population of the world, says Moshe Vardi, a professor at Rice University.
Vardi, who was delivering a talk at the American Association for Advancement of Science, said: “If machines are capable of doing almost any work humans can do, what will humans do?â€
The comment of Professor Moshe Vardi comes just weeks after former CEO of McDonalds said the food chain is planning to buy robots instead of employing workers.
Vardi during his speech said that the future belongs to machines as half of the working population will lose their jobs due to robots and this phenomenon could happen anytime within the next 30 years, totally wiping out the middle-class jobs.
The professor said that the “robotization†of jobs will have wide repercussions in many spheres of life, including automated driving and sex robots.
Vardi was quoted by the Guardian saying that humans will have more leisure time in the future as they may have to work just for a few hours a week.
Vardi also warned that more leisure cannot be seen as a positive outcome. He said “I do not find this a promising future, as I do not find the prospect of leisure-only life appealing. I believe that work is essential to human well-being.”
With the developments made in the field of Artificial Intelligence, within the next decade,
robots will have a major role in our life and society. Another research has indicated that 20 years from now 35% of UK jobs are at high risk of replacement by automation and robotics.