McKinsey: Changes in the Workplace will be more nuanced than simple choice between Human and Robot

McKinsey on the impact of Artificial Intelligence and robots on jobs:

Machines will change jobs, but they won’t fully take over from humans. The technical feasibility of automation is best analyzed by looking not at occupations as a whole, but at the amount of time spent on individual activities, and the degree to which these could be automated by using technology that currently exists and adapting it to individual work activities. Overall, we find that only about 5% of occupations could be fully automated by adapting current technology. However, today’s technologies could automate 45% of the activities people are paid to perform across all occupations. What’s more, about 60% of all occupations could see 30% or more of their work activities automated.

… Automation will fundamentally change the nature of organizations. The challenge for managers will be to identify where automation could transform their organizations, and then figure out where to unlock value, given the cost of replacing human labor with machines and the complexity of adapting business processes to a changed workplace. Most benefits may come not from reducing labor costs but from raising productivity through fewer errors, higher output, and improved quality, safety, and speed.

Source: These are the jobs least likely to go to robots | McKinsey & Company

And in a previous posting the McKinsey authors wrote:

As the automation of physical and knowledge work advances, many jobs will be redefined rather than eliminated—at least in the short term.

Source: Four fundamentals of workplace automation | McKinsey & Company