Swiss Federal Polytechnical University

When it comes to the future of intelligent robots, the first question people ask is often: how many jobs will they make disappear? Whatever the answer, the second question is likely to be: how can I make sure that my job is not among them?

In a study just published in Science Robotics, a team of roboticists from Swiss Federal Polytechnical University (EPFL) and economists from the University of Lausanne offers answers to both questions.

By combining the scientific and technical literature on robotic abilities with employment and wage statistics, they have developed a method to calculate which of the currently existing jobs are more at risk of being performed by machines in the near future.

Additionally, they have devised a method for suggesting career transitions to jobs that are less at risk and require smallest retraining efforts.