Some jobs are believed to be harder to replace by robots. These include:

• Mental health and substance abused worker: 0.3%
• Occupational therapist: 0.35%
• Dietitian and nutritionist: 0.39%
• Physician and surgeon: 0.42%
• Clergy: 0.81%

Many people assume that AI can only replace human beings in areas that require high levels of computation, manual labour or data-driven optimisation. However, there is potential for machines to perform creative or people-focused jobs too. It is amazing that machines have beaten the best human players at most games held up as measures of human intellect, such as chess or scrabble. For example, new AI can even compose original music just like a human composer.

Martin Ford, futurist and author of Rise of the Robots : Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future notes: “For now, humans are still best at creativity but there’s a caveat there. I can’t guarantee you that in 20 years a computer won’t be the most creative entity on the planet. There are already computers that can paint original works of art. So, in 20 years who knows how far it’s going to go?”

Nonetheless, the change in job market is not only driven by automation. A 2016 World Economic Forum report determined other contributing factors. These include climate change, the rise of the middle class in many emerging markets, aging populations in certain parts of Europe and East Asia, and the changing ambition of women.

The continuous advancement in technology and changing job structure will transform our working lives. It will create new roles, redefine existing jobs and shift in career for many employees. This transition may also exacerbate income and gender inequality issues. The challenge at hand will be how we prepare for the future and manage the changing job market.