Will robots give us four-day weekends - or leave us without jobs?
Artificial intelligence expert Toby Walsh forecasted that by 2062, when machines become as intelligent as humans, technology could produce cheaper goods and potentially extend weekends to four or five days.
However, leading economists expressed concern that the wealth created by robots would not be shared, potentially leaving many people unemployed. Historically, predictions of automation causing mass job loss have occurred since John Maynard Keynes warned of "technological unemployment" in 1930.
A 2013 study by Oxford University researchers Frey and Osborne predicted that 47 percent of US jobs could be automated in two decades. While subsequent reports by the World Bank and the Bank of England echoed these fears, Walsh noted that predictions for specific roles like bicycle repair, commercial pilots, and fashion models may be overestimated due to social interaction and practicality factors.