Page 52. Connect to the Topic. Part B. TUNE IN

Unit six

page 52

connect to the topic

part B: tune in

welcome to science today; my guest is Daniela Akarpof, who is an expert on robots.

Welcome.

good to be here.

I’m sure you hear this often; when we talk about robots in the workplace, people worry, am I going to lose my job? will I be replaced by a robot?

yes I do hear that often.

Is that a real concern?

actually there are very few jobs that can be completely replaced by a robot; we estimate that less than 5% of jobs can be entirely replaced by a robot or machine.

Really? only 5%?

Yes; but in many jobs there are some parts of the work that could be replaced.

we think that about 30% of the work in most jobs can be done by machines.

what do you mean?

think of a chef in a restaurant for example; there are some types of work that a machine could do much more quickly and efficiently.

for example, chopping or mixing food.

A machine or robot can do that very quickly.

Right.

but on the other hand, there are other types of work that a machine cannot do.

specifically work that involves understanding people’s feelings, or work that requires creativity.

for example, a chef has to understand what type of food the customers want; and the chef has to create new interesting dishes that they’ll enjoy.

that type of work is still very very difficult for a robot to do.

so interesting; though I’ve eaten that some restaurants where the food tasted like it was made by a robot…