Cooling the hype: No, your job will not be replaced by artificial intelligence any time soon – but prepare for digital colleagues

Artificial intelligence is not merely Star Wars-like humanoids.

You have probably communicated with a customer service bot without thinking about it, and you have read an article on an editorial web site that’s machine-written, but you didn’t notice.

AI is forecast to fundamentally change how we work.

"People whose job it is to listen to other people and satisfy them will pretty soon be out of work due to automation", as MIT robotics professor Andrew McAfee says.

The most visible sign is robots replacing human beings, doing their job. Sometimes better than people. And cheaper.

Beyond the hype, and beyond fear-mongering:

What are we starting by pressing the button?

Is the fear of an AI workforce reasonable – and the hopes exaggerated?

You will hear

Farshid Amirabdollahian, associate professor in adaptive systems, University of Hertfordshire

Darrel M. West, political scientist, VP Brookings Institute, Washington DC