Do you worry you could lose your job to a robot?

Millions of Canadians could lose their jobs to robots over the next decade... and that includes cooks, salespersons, and even bartenders... is nothing sacred? Could your job be next?

The idea of robots tends to elicit mixed feelings in people. Most really only know robots from science fiction where they are alternately portrayed as dependable buddies who serve and protect without complaint or as nefarious brooding presences who want nothing less than to switch roles and subjugate or eliminate the messy, illogical human race.  

But step back from the starkly drawn world of science fiction, and we find that robots and artificial intelligence are already making huge inroads into our lives without the snappy Manichaean story lines.

Manufacturing has embraced robotic and A.I. technology for decades now. Just look at the auto industry as one example. Experts say it's just the beginning.

In the next two decades, 40 per cent of existing Canadian jobs could be taken over by technology or computers. What has changed is that artificial intelligence has developed to the point that it can start to perform many white-collar tasks... and that opens up a whole new range of possibilities... in banking, in retail and service industries... And even in the legal profession. Does that mean your job could be on the line?

Will automation deliver us from drudgery ...leaving us free for more creative pursuits? The jobs most at risk are disproportionately occupied by workers aged 15 to 24. Will this trend mean the growth of a youthful underclass whose talents and abilities can no longer compete when stacked up against robots and computer technology. Where would you look for a job that would be safe from automation?

If history offers any advice, jobs lost to technological advances are usually followed by the creation of a whole range of brand new jobs ...jobs that nobody even dreamed of before. In 1970 who imagined such jobs as computer game designers, IT and cellphone repair, software coding etc.

Change is coming... and it could be coming faster than we think. How will you prepare?

Our question: Do you worry you could lose your job to a robot?