Is 2014 the year YOUR job will be taken by a robot? 'Jobocalpyse' set to strike as droids are trained to flip burgers, pour drinks - and even look after our children

Scientists predict a 'jobocalypse' as robots take over manual jobs

A huge 70% of occupations could become automated over next 30 years



Drivers, teachers, babysitters and nurses could be replaced by robots

Could mean the end of the eight-hour, five-day working week



SPONSORED



Experts are predicting a 'jobocalypse' as robots take over manual jobs, while scientists at Cambridge warn that machines should have their intelligence limited to stop them outsmarting us.

A new version of the movie RoboCop (out February 12) shows us a future where technology revolutionises law enforcement, but that is just the tip of the iceberg for robotics.

'I believe we are the inflection point where robotics are going to change everything you know and do,' says Ben Way, author of Jobocalypse, a book about about the rise of the robots, told MailOnline.

Joel Kinnaman, left. and Gary Oldman, right, star in the new RoboCop movie

He says everyone from bartenders to drivers are at risk.

'They will have the impact to take away 70% of all traditional jobs in the next 30 years,' he said.

'Robots could deliver a lot of instability - but if we get it right, it could lead to a new renaissance for humanity.

'We will change the way we work. The eight-hour, five-day work week will disappear.'

Lord Martin Rees, Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge, and the Astronomer Royal, believes robots have two very different roles.



'The first is to operate in locations that humans can't reach, such as the aftermaths of accidents in mines, oil-rigs and nuclear power stations.,' he says.

'The second, also deeply unglamorous, is to help elderly or disabled people with everyday life: tying shoelaces, cutting toenails and suchlike.'

However, he advocates limiting their intelligence, stopping them doing more advanced jobs.

'I think we should ensure that robots remain as no more than 'idiot savants' – lacking the capacity to outwit us, even though they may greatly surpass us in the ability to calculate and process information.'

I s it time to plan a c a reer change? T he jobs set to be lost to bots...

1. BARMAN: THE MOOD-SENSING BOT THAT WILL MIX YOU A DRINK... AND CAN DETECT IF YOU NEED TO MAKE IT A DOUBLE

The artificially intelligent robot called Monsieur can create thousands of complicated cocktails at the touch of a button

The touchscreen on the robot allows users to browse through the 300-strong cocktail list and choose how strong they want their drink, from 'lightweight' to 'boss' In the future, you'll see live barman only in the most exclusive clubs. Your cocktail order will soon be taken and shaken up by 'bot barmen.



Meet Monsieur: an artificially intelligent robotic that can learn its user's favourite cocktails as well as how strong they like them - and can even anticipate its owner's mood and sense when to include a double shot of alcohol.

The robot is the brainchild of a company, also called Monsieur, in Atlanta, Georgia, which is trying to raise $100,000 on crowd-funding website Kickstarter to put the product, which is designed for the home, into production.

Meanwhile, in China there is already the Robot Restaurant, where 20 robots deliver food to the table, cook dumplings and noodles, usher diners and entertain them in Harbin, Heilongjiang province in China.



When a diner walks in, an usher robot extends their mechanic arm to the side and says 'Earth person hello. Welcome to the Robot Restaurant.'

San Francisco robotics firm Momentum says its burger flipping robot is already able to make 360 hamburgers per hour.

It can make custom burgers for each customers, and the firm says it is 'more consistent and more sanitary' than human workers.

'Our alpha machine frees up all of the hamburger line cooks in a restaurant,' it boasts.

The firm plans to open a restaurant in San Francisco using its technology, then sell it to existing burger chains.



2. BABYSITTER: THE INTERACTIVE BOT THAT CAN LOOK AFTER CHILDREN



Kibo (pictured), is a robot designed to keep astronauts company in space and is currently undergoing trials. It is expected to eventually be used with children and the elderly Kibo in the laboratory with its creators. Astronauts aboard the ISS are already taking part in trials with Kibo, which is designed to keep them company in space

'This could become very controversial,' warns Way.

'Instead of putting your kid in front of the TV, you can put them in front of an interactive robot.

'There's a real risk they could create more of a bond with the robot than their parents - we get very attached to inanimate objects.'

Astronauts aboard the ISS are already taking part in trials with Kibo, a robot designed to keep them company in space.



It is expected to eventually be used with children and the elderly as well, and is designed to become a companion that can chat and interact with them.

As well as children, the elderly are expected to get robotic companions, with one firm developing a range of robotic animals, including a seal, that can keep them company - and keep an eye on them using a range of sensors that can alert doctors if they fall over, for example.

3. MUSICIAN: THE ROBOT BAND THAT CAN RECREATE YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS PERFECTLY EVERY TIME

Computers have been capable of playing music since the first games consoles bleeped out the Mario theme tune, and in recent years music and technology has become more interlinked than ever.

One team of researchers has even created a robot version of the Beatles, called the Hubos (after the model of robot used).

It was programmed to play the band's Come Together, using specially-designed real instruments.

Holographic performers have also been used already with rapper Tupac taking to the stage at the Coachella music festival in 2012 - despite having been shot dead in 1996.

However, Way thinks they are just the start.

'You'll be able to rent a full, live orchestra of robots that can play better than Beethoven, or a robot Marilyn Monroe singing you Happy Birthday. It's all quite far off, but it will come.



4. CROP-PICKER AND FARM HAND: DROIDS THAT CAN HARVEST GRAPES, ROUND UP CATTLE - AND EVEN KILL



The trundling Wall-Ye robot gets to work picking grapes near Chalon-sur-Saone, France

Wall-Ye draws on tracking technology, artificial intelligence and mapping to move from vine to vine

'A lot of automation will come in from tractors to processors, with drones rounding up sheep or moving cattle,' says Ben Way.

'There's also an interesting moral question about automated slaughterhouses - is killing animals something we are comfortable with robots doing?

'There'll even be automated crop picking - we're seeing grapes being picked already for wine producers.

One of the first grape-picking robots, being trialled in France, Wall-Ye draws on tracking technology, artificial intelligence and mapping to move from vine to vine, recognise plant features, capture and record data, memorise each vine, synchronise six cameras and guide its arms to wield tools.

White with red trim, 50 centimetres (20 inches) tall and 60 wide, it also has an in-built security mechanism is designed to thwart would-be robot snatchers.

5. DELIVERY DRIVER: INTRODUCING THE SELF-DRIVE CAR



The image, tweeted by Idealabs found Bill Gross shows what Google's self-driving car sees as it turns left. Gross claims the cars collect 1GB of data every second

The Google Cars are based on Lexus RX450h and Toyota Prius models. Each is fitted with sensors and a camera on the top. Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles says they are as safe as those driven by humans

One of the first robotic technologies that will have a fundamental impact is the self-driving car, says Way.

Millions of jobs depend the delivery and logistics of everything we consume.



'The big change will be that when you order online it will arrive by robot or drone three hours later.'

Google is at the forefront of the developments, having already tested its laser-guided cars for hundreds of thousands of miles.

It has clocked up more than 300,000 miles of testing without an accident in Nevada and in testing facilities.



The vehicle uses Google Maps and 15cm resolution models of the world, as well as lane level model information that feed into the car and determines how it drives.



Then, in real-time, Google takes laser data from the car and process about a million and half thousand measurements per second. These measurements include where other cars, bicycles and pedestrians are, as well as analyse speeds, traffic signals, and more.



Thirdly, Google uses radar technology, based on how cruise control works in existing cars.



6. FACTORY WORKER: THE DRONES MAKING HUMANS OBSOLETE



Minis being built in the assembly line at a plant in Cowley, where over 400 robots build 700 cars each day

'Robots are already deep in manufacturing - and it could turn America into a manufacturing centre again, if we can have robot and renewable energy,' claims Way.

'This is a potential silver lining; we will have a society where the costs have come down.'

Already we are seeing many major plants, from phone production - where iPhone maker Foxconn says its will invest in a million robots - to car makers pioneering the technology - and there's a lot more to come.

Over the past six months Google has bought seven technology companies that each specialise in robotics or automated systems.



These include Meka, which makes humanoid robots, and Industrial Perception, which specialises in machines that can package goods and load up lorries, for example.

According to the New York Times: 'A realistic case, according to several specialists, would be automating portions of an existing supply chain that stretches from a factory floor to the companies that ship and deliver goods to a consumer's doorstep.'

7. DOC TOR AND NURSE: ROBOTS WHO CAN SERVE PATIENTS - AND EVEN PERFORM SURGERY

A robotic arm puts a package of Pringles on the serving tray to deliver it to an imaginary patient in a mock hospital room at the Technical University of Eindhoven, Netherlands

'As robotic technology comes in, it will bring the cost of healthcare down,'' says Way.

We are already seeing robots such as the popular Da Vinci used to perform surgery, being guided by a skilled surgeon, which others are set to help in the operating theatre and even on wards.

One project at the Eindhoven Technical University, a bin-sized robot called Avi is being trained to deliver food to patients.

Operators hope to wirelessly instruct the scrappy waste bin-sized robot called 'Avi' to scan a room's physical layout, including the location of the patient's bed and the placement of a carton of milk on a table nearby.

In a recent demonstration, the system then activated a second robot, the more humanoid 'Amigo', which used the map provided by Avi to locate the milk, grasp it with a pincer hand and bring it to the side of the hospital bed. That mission accomplished, he dropped it on the floor - something the team say they are still working on.

8 . TEAC HER : CLASSROOM BOTS ON A GLOBAL SCALE

Teachers, Way believes, will become sidelined as interactive and online learning take over

'We'll see a huge amount of online learning, but also more interactive videoconferences and other innovations,' Says Way.

'Rather than having to ask a professor you could ask anyone in the world.'

Google is already pioneering a system called helpouts which uses its video chat to put people in touch who need help - be they builder, plumbers of physicists.



'Teachers will become more sidelined - they will be more of a helping hand,' believes Way.

'We'll see more interactive space, rather like the Genius bar in an Apple store.'

9. POST MAN: DRONES THAT KNOW WHAT YOU'VE BOUGHT - AND WILL BEAT YOU HOME WITH IT

Drone delivery may seem a long way off - but everyone from Amazon to UPS is investigating it In Ben Way's future, shopping will be a very different experience.

'Apart from very specific niches like food, retail will become a showroom experience - your robot car will take you to a giant store where you can see it, then the drones will deliver it before you've got home.

Drone delivery may seem a long way off - but everyone from Amazon to UPS is investigating it.

The Internet shopping giant's chief executive Jeff Bezos says that he wants to use octocoptors to replace postmen and cut delivery times to just 30 minutes.

Customers would have their order dropped onto their front lawn by the machine which would fly through the air from a nearby warehouse with it clasped in a metal grabber.



10. SOLDIERS: FROM HELPFUL ROBOTS TO DYSTOPIAN ROBOTIC SOCIETIES



The DARPA petman robot (pictured) tests out military clothing Drones and robots like Google's Big Dog are already having an impact on the way wars are carried out.

Researchers around the world are creating new and previously unimaginable weapons, and technology experts say some of the biggest decisions about the programming of robots will come when we decide whether to let them autonomously operate weapons.

'Science fiction has painted a vivid spectrum of possible futures, from cute and helpful robots (Star Wars) to dystopian (I Robot) robotic societies,' said Daniel Wolpert, a Royal Research Society Professor in the Department of Engineering at Cambridge University.

'Interestingly, almost no science fiction envisages a future without robots.'