Should we fear the rise of robots? What the future of life and work will look like with AI

Science fiction has long pondered a world where humans are outmoded. Whether taking a post-apocalyptic tack, where we become braindead automatons simply shuffling from one place to another while tech handles all our issues, or a more techno-utopian one where we live, Jetsons-like, in a world where robots are always helpful and systems innately know what we want from bars, shops and restaurants, the idea has fixated authors and thinkers. But with the advent of AI, science fiction is quickly becoming science fact. What had previously been thought unthinkable just two years ago has been changed thanks to the generative AI revolution the release of ChatGPT in November 2022 has unleashed. The company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI, announced in October it was hiring an economist to consider the impact its tools could have on our lives and society. Dr Ronnie Chatterji said he would be developing “research that helps inform how we transition to an AI-driven economy.” And prior research by the company suggests it believes up to 80 per cent of all jobs could be affected in some way by AI. You may think it’s unsurprising that a company that has reached a $150 billion valuation says its products are...

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