<div><strong>Mala Bhargava</strong><br><br>The rate at which robots are managing to do everything thrown at them is impressive – and alarming. If you’re thinking ah, a robot won’t be able to do any of the things I do, you should think again. Whether it’s your role as a parent, the hours you put in as a heartfelt caregiver to someone, or most of all, your job, it’s seriously time to worry. Robots are not just after the widow-cleaner’s job, but absolutely everyone’s. Yes, they do say new categories of jobs will come up, but indeed they may not be created as fast as the old style jobs will be lost and nor will they be in the same numbers.</div><div> </div><div><table align="right" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="width: 200px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/mala-bhargava-mdm.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 200px; margin: 1px;"></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Mala Bhargava</strong></td></tr></tbody></table>Analyst firm Gartner, at its recent Symposium XPO 2015, told the senior IT executives and CIOs who gather at the event that this future of robots was much closer than is believed.</div><div> </div><div>As a long-time journalist, I certainly didn’t think an R2D2-like humanoid would one day be taking my place at the desk, able to write what I do, in my own way. But as soon as 2018, 20 per cent of the business content one reads will be put together by robots, or rather, by machines. If you look at how content today is produced to be caught by algorithms, it isn’t surprising. Headlines and titles are beginning to be more and more similar, “listicles” have become standard fare, and keywords have to be used a certain way to get the required “numbers,” whether those numbers are really people or just other robots. Machines are also getting so smart at figuring out context and real meaning that it shouldn’t be difficult to move to the next step – eliciting specific emotions. That’s really already happening and the reason why writing has to “sell” itself and not just inform. So, there are and will be more “robotwriters” writing reports, summaries, analyses, presentations etc. I’m sure they could be robotjournalists as easily – and they won’t care how thoroughly abused and trolled they are on Twitter either.</div><div> </div><div>By 2020, Gartner says, some of the things that robots are just beginning to be able to do, will move outside of human control. Transactions are an example. Less and less intervention will be required to make those happen. Frank Buytendijk, Analyst at Gartner, says says modern digital algorithms are becoming so aware of meaning</div><div>and mood that they are getting more personal and human. So they arescalable and adaptable and able to do more.</div><div> </div><div>Humanity may well be shooting itself in the foot with its own inventiveness, but then, it’s always been good at that.</div>
