Rise of the robots: Are fears that machines will take control just artificial hype?

Andrew Darley, head of technology research at finnCap, explores the trend towards automation, whether technology could spell mass job losses and the predicted huge investments in artificial intelligence over coming years.

The robots are coming. Intelligent algorithms are already threatening job security and no industry will be left untouched.

Paralegals, travel agents and data analysts are in imminent danger of becoming replaced by 'robots'. Next, though, it could be taxi-drivers, doctors and even those who have catapulted us into this brave new world - the computer programmers.

Elements of any job that is routine and repetitive could very well become automated. Artificial intelligence (AI) is making inroads into every walk of working life, from schools and hospitals to financial services and retail. In 2016, the AI market was $643.7 million (£498.3 million). By 2025, it is forecast to grow to $36.8 billion.

Every new development since the Spinning Jenny has always challenged existing jobs. The consequence often, thankfully, has been that more jobs are created, although the structural shift can cause short-term pain.

Historically, the perception of a 'robot' involved an android -a physical deployment of a mechanical human replacement - which does not merit days off, has no dependents, and does not baulk at mundane tasks. To many, C-3PO - the walking and talking android in Star Wars - would be the commonly-held image of what a robot might be - or at least a dalek, even though for them stairs were originally a challenge.

Home robots are currently more Metal Mickey than C-3PO - merely virtual servants, doing the domestic chores we consider menial. Yet as AI evolves, so will the utility and inevitable popularity of them. C-3PO may become reality yet.

Last year, we saw the smart, voice-controlled speakers which also act as personal assistants, such as Amazon Echo and Google Home (just gone on sale in the UK), become must-have Christmas presents. According to Grand View Research, the global Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) market is expected to expand significantly in 2017, reaching $12.28 billion by 2024.

Breakthroughs in voice control technology are being made constantly with voice-activated systems expected to double to 10 million in 2017. Just over a decade ago, the error rate for speech recognition was close to 100%. But now, even with an array of different regional and national accents, voice control has vastly improved, and undoubtedly will play a vital role in driving the growing pervasiveness of home robots, AI and IVAs such as Siri, Amazon Alexa, and Google Assistant.

Big Data, the intensive collection, analysis, sharing and storage of personalised information, is the key to it all. Your data and profile will follow you in the cloud and will be used to configure the world around you to your individual tastes and needs, morphing into effectively an 'internet of me'.

Today most websites recommend products based on your past purchase history -but why would you want to buy a second garden hose in a week? The future of AI, for example, could mean asking a 50-year-old male, based on peer profiling, if he would like to buy a red sports car, or flying lessons, or whatever else a midlife crisis involves. AI is only possible because of Big Data, sifting through massive amounts of information, to provide a personal experience.

The UK's Serious Fraud Office, for instance, is promoting Ravn's financial crime-solving robot, which exposed large-scale bribery and corruption at Rolls-Royce. It sifted 30 million documents -600,000 a day -understanding and extracting information from text, tables and pictures.

However, as AI and its capabilities rapidly evolve, there are fears that developers will be unable to control their creations, and inevitably their use. We now know that an army of social-media bots assisted Donald Trump's US presidential campaign; that army has been turned on Angela Merkel, and on all the rivals to Marie Le Pen in France.

So the concern is no longer just about the impact on jobs, but on the direction of politics. Humans will keep control and mastery over AI as long as it remains the tool rather than the controller.

Yet it is inevitable that we will be operated on by surgeon bots; discuss our banking issues with call-centre bots; study with online training programmes; be chauffeured by autonomous cars; and have goods delivered 24/7 by AI lorries, which need no rest and strictly follow the Highway Code.

Once the tech is standardised, and commoditised, it will be mass-market. Early-stage investments in safe automation of standard functions will increasingly become a focus of interest. And we look forward to them -the rather humdrum reality to the theoretical excitement that is robots.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.