Worried AI will replace your job?Here’s an explainer to prepare for that day

Oxford-Yale survey of 352 machine learning experts predicted a 50 per cent chance AI will outperform humans in all tasks in just 45 years

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Most experts say the introduction of human-like robots is still years, if not decades, away. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 1:05pm, 31 Jan 2018Updated: 1:05pm, 31 Jan 2018

Machines are expected to excel humans in language translation by 2024, in writing high-school essays by 2026, in driving a truck by 2027, and working in retail service jobs by 2031, according to research by Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute and Yale University. By 2049, machines will be able to write a bestseller, and by 2053 they’ll be working as surgeons. The technology of artificial intelligence will be at the centre of these applications.

By 2053, machines will be working as surgeons, according to an Oxford-Yale survey. Photo: Handout

The Oxford-Yale AI impact research, based on a survey last year of 352 machine learning experts, estimated a 50 per cent chance that AI will outperform humans in all tasks in just 45 years, and could take over every job in the next century. For most researchers, it is a matter of “when” not “if”.

Worried about your job being replaced by a machine? Here’s a primer to help prepare for that day.

1. What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence is the science of simulating intelligent behaviour in computers, enabling the latter to exhibit human-like behavioural traits such as knowledge, reasoning, common sense, learning, and decision-making, according to a definition in a recent Goldman Sachs report on AI.

2. What is machine learning?