'High touch jobs' will survive the robot onslaught

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Though a number of jobs could be threatened due to the rapid development of AI technology and robot, there are certainly some fields for human beings that will not be in danger of being challenged, according to a recent CNBC report.

"High touch jobs", which need to communicate directly with the public and to take care of customers, such as doctors and hair stylists, are "likely to survive the robot onslaught", Lee Rainie, director of Internet and technology research at the Pew Research Center, said in an interview with CNBC.

A humanoid robot working in a factory. /Quartz Photo

At the same time, Rainie pointed out that the S.T.E.M jobs (namely science, technology, engineering and math), algorithm writers and assessors are expected to be not replaced by a highly developed robot in the short term.

According to Rainie, positions with good skills like communication and critical thinking could never be replicated by machines, as "these traits they (robots) can't learn". However, he still emphasized the great pressure of human beings.

Paleofuture Photo

In his opinions, the business model of higher education has been "deeply disrupted", as the pressure to compete against a robot in seeking jobs increases rapidly and educational organizations have to keep up with the demand of the market, offering various advanced programs to students.