A recent study by Oxford university estimates that nearly half of all jobs in the US are at risk from automation and computers in the next 20 years. While advancing technologies have been endangering jobs since the start of the Industrial Revolution, this time it is not just manual posts: artificial intelligence — the so-called fourth industrial revolution — promises to change the shape of professional work as well.
For instance, lawtech is already proving adept at sorting and analysing legal documents far faster and more cheaply than junior lawyers can. Similarly, routine tasks in accounting are succumbing to AI at the expense of more junior staff.
This change is an opportunity to create new and better jobs. Paul Drechsler, who is president and chair of respectively the CBI employers’ organisation and Teach First, which recruits high-achievers into teaching, is enthusiastic about the future: “The fourth industrial revolution is the best opportunity that this country has had for decades to leapfrog” in terms of productivity and competitiveness. But he cautions that “the change is happening must faster than the education system”.