Rise of robots ‘could destroy millions of jobs’

THE increasing use of robots by industry could lead to unprecedented numbers of jobs being axed, a top Bank of England official has warned.

Chief economist Andy Haldane said machines will take on a growing number of ‘thinking’ roles currently carried out by humans. Warning of the ‘dark side’ of technological progress, he said a ‘hollowing out of jobs’ could leave millions out of work and lead to social unrest.

The disruption caused could eclipse the upheaval seen during the industrial revolution of the 1 th and 19th centuries or the rise of computers in the 20th century, he added.

Mr Haldane told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘Each of those had a wrenching and lengthy impact on the jobs market, on the lives and livelihoods of large swathes of society’

‘Jobs were effectively taken by machines of various types.’

The Bank has previously warned that robots could put 15million people out of work.