Tech bros want AI to look after me. No thanks

As robots creep into the workplace Melanie Reid argues that some jobs require a human touch

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Suddenly it’s the hot topic.

Will AI take my job, asked C4’s Dispatches last week. As the government dashes to join the new AI revolution, the question casts heavy shadows over those of working age. How long have I got? What can I do instead?

Every now and again I amuse myself wondering how long my husband and I might have to wait for AI to get us up, washed and dressed. Short of acquiring a Blade Runner replicant - and knowing my luck, it would go rogue - there is nothing remotely approaching a sophisticated, interactive care robot. Nor, I suspect, will there be.

Imagine the programming it would need to handle bodies safely. Would it catch me, say, if I started to fall while transferring out of bed? The Japanese have been trying to build care robots for decades - they've got as far as a machine with pincer arms which grips someone's torso to stand them up.