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ROBO WARRIORS

Alarming maps reveal the US cities where ROBOTS will replace up to half of humans in the workplace

A NEW map lays bare how robots are taking over the workplace in US cities. 

It shines a light on the top 10 metropolitan areas threatened by machine takeover – with California ranked number one. 

 The map shows the 'robot intensity' per 1,000 workers
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The map shows the 'robot intensity' per 1,000 workersCredit: TCF
 USA automatic... robot workers are on the march
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USA automatic... robot workers are on the marchCredit: Getty - Contributor

The use of bots in the workplace has more than doubled in just 12 years, studies show. 

But this is just the beginning. Numbers are set to rocket. 

Looking at areas most at risk, experts found automation is taking jobs from younger, less-educated and minority workers.

The study and map were developed by New York think-tank The Century Foundation and looked across more than 250 metropolitan areas to find out the so-called “robot intensity”.

Over the next two decades, 45 percent to 57 percent of US workers will be at risk of losing their jobs to automation

Report findings

Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Ana, California were ranked number one.

This was followed by Chicago, Naperville and Joliet in Illinois.

Dockworkers in the sprawling port of Los Angeles have been recently replaced by unmanned electric vehicles to move shipping containers to and fro quaysides. 

Meanwhile many manufacturers in Chicago are adopting machines instead of human workers.

Other areas of California again make the list at number eight while Indianapolis, Indiana was listed at number nine.

The tenth metropolis area to be affected by a robot takeover is Cleveland and Elyria, Ohio.

 Experts found that automation is displacing younger, less-educated and minority workers at the highest rates
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Experts found that automation is displacing younger, less-educated and minority workers at the highest ratesCredit: The Century Foundation

Top ten cities at risk

  1.  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
  2. Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL 
  3. Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, TX 
  4. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ 
  5. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI 
  6. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI 
  7. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD 
  8. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 
  9. Indianapolis, IN 
  10. Cleveland-Elyria, OH

The report reads: "We are not the first to examine the impact of robots on labour market outcomes.

"The first generation of studies estimate the ‘risk’ or chance that automation displaces workers.

"Several studies predict that, over the next two decades, 45 percent to 57 percent of US and OECD workers will be at risk of losing their jobs to automation."

The report also identify who is at risk.

They conclude: "Minorities and youth that do not have an education higher than high school.

"Our youth samples are for respondents 16 to 24 years of age,’ the experts wrote.

"They are African American, Latinx, and white men and women who have completed no more than twelve years of schooling or received no more than a high school diploma or GED."

 Robots in the workplace has more than double in just a 12 year period, displacing 50 percent of many human workers across the US
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Robots in the workplace has more than double in just a 12 year period, displacing 50 percent of many human workers across the USCredit: The Century Foundation
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