Digital disruption could threaten 40 percent of Australian jobs over the next 10 to 15 years as automation and machine learning shake up the economy, according to a new Productivity Commission report.
In the report, titled Digital Disruption: What Do Governments Need To Do?, the commission warns that governments and regulators need to prepare now for changing times.
Commission chairman Peter Harris told the ABC’s World Today program that the coming disruptive technologies of machine intelligence and automation will change economies, with a cost to many businesses as well as employees..
“Things like 3D printing are going to have an impact. Right now it’s more of a niche product, but over time, you’re going to see this applied to manufacturing,” he said.
But Harris said that, while smart technology will inevitably replace some humans, especially in manufacturing, early fears about millions of humans being replaced by machines are overstated. Nonetheless, he said it would be critical for Australia to have an effective social safety net, including a strong Medicare.
