A recent study calculated that 47% of total employment in the US is at risk of automation in the next 20 years. What will it mean for the humans who once did that work?

Robots are coming for your job. Blue-collar jobs in industries like manufacturing have been disappearing for years but now white-collar work is under threat too. Machines are already taking roles that used to be done by journalists, lawyers and even anaesthetists. One recent study calculated that 47% of total employment in the US is at risk of automation in the next 20 years.

So what will happen to all the human beings who did those jobs? Will we invent enough new jobs to keep them occupied? If not, how will they fill their time? And how will they earn money? The Inquiry – still made by humans, for now, – brings you answers.

(Photo: A robot stands with workers at a Japanese employee supply company. Credit: Getty Images)