Most of us fear the rise of the robots

THREE out of four Irish people think automation and robots will cause unemployment, a new survey claims.

However, the iReach poll also says that most people believe robots will be good for the economy, estimating that the jobs under threat may exclude their own. The poll of 1,000 people found that just 16pc see “no threat” to employment in Ireland as advances are made in technology.

And 76pc of Irish people believe that job automation will contribute to a rise in unemployment here. However, 55pc view job automation as “positive”. As to what kind of automation might come next, two-thirds of us doubt that robot receptionists or assistants on wheels will become common in hotels or retail outlets.