Many are worried that robots could replace people at their workplaces. Not only have robots decreased the need for human workers at factories, but they're also taking over tasks such as farming, repairing, and communication. There are even some who think robots can replace news writers, coders and possibly every job on the planet.
UK publication The Independent worked with survey company Statista to determine the top 10 professions that would be affected by the increasing spread of the robots. This list includes:
- Secretaries (32,900)
- Accounts, Clerks and bookkeepers (30,100)
- Counter Clerks (15,900)
- Filing Clerks (14,100)
- Sales-related jobs (9,100)
- Travel Agents (7,300)
- Librarians (4,700)
- Pension and Insurance Clerks (2,900)
- Credit Controllers (1,900)
- Collectors and Credit Agents (800)
In the last year, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and renowned physics scientist Stephen Hawking all stated their tenuous fear of what an advanced AI could cause in the near future. This fear caused many to sign an open letter written by the Future of Life Institute that warns against the dangers of an AI.
"There is now a broad consensus that AI research is progressing steadily, and that its impact on society is likely to increase," the authors explained in the letter. "The potential benefits are huge, since everything that civilization has to offer is a product of human intelligence; we cannot predict what we might achieve when this intelligence is magnified by the tools AI may provide, but the eradication of disease and poverty are not unfathomable. Because of the great potential of AI, it is important to research how to reap its benefits while avoiding potential pitfalls."
That's not to say that the signers are opposed to AI development, just that the research needs to be judged over time in order to account for all the possible dangers.
"We believe that research on how to make AI systems robust and beneficial is both important and timely, and that there are concrete research directions that can be pursued today," the authors wrote.
