AI Experts Predict that 40% of Domestic Tasks Can be Automated within the Next Decade

According to a research study, a significant number of artificial intelligence experts in Japan and the United Kingdom believe that around 40% of household tasks could be automated within the next decade.

A team of researchers from Ochanomizu University and the University of Oxford conducted a survey among 65 AI experts from Japan and the U.K. The objective was to determine the level of automation that can be expected for various domestic tasks such as cooking, grocery shopping, laundry, and caregiving over the next five to ten years.

According to the survey results, grocery shopping is considered the domestic task that is most likely to be automated in the next five to ten years. Approximately 45% of the respondents predicted that it would be automated within five years, and 59% predicted it within ten years.

Similarly, it is predicted that within the next five years, 39% of shopping tasks for non-grocery items could be automated. This number is expected to increase to slightly over 50% within 10 years.

According to a survey of AI experts, around 46% of them believe that household cleaning and dishwashing tasks could be automated within the next decade.

Additionally, automated cooking was considered feasible by approximately 32% of the experts within the next five years, increasing to 46% over the next decade.

Similarly, 43% of the AI experts think laundry could be automated within the next 10 years, and 44% believe that ironing and folding clothing could also be automated within the same time frame.

According to a survey of AI experts, some tasks related to caring for adults, pets, and children are less likely to be automated in the next decade. However, almost 40% of experts believe that teaching a child could be automated within a decade.

When it comes to caring for adults, such as elderly relatives, around 24% of experts believe that this could be automated within the next five years, and just under 35% believe it could be automated within the next 10 years.

For pet care, around 21% of experts surveyed believe it could be automated within the next five years, and this figure rises to nearly 32% over the next decade.

According to a survey, only a small percentage of experts believed that tasks such as interacting with a child, taking a child outside the home, and providing physical care for a child could be automated within the next ten years.

One expert pointed out that societal concerns, such as whether it is acceptable to automate child care and how it could affect a child’s development, as well as issues related to privacy, could pose greater challenges to automation in these areas than technical feasibility.

According to an expert in the study, the use of automation in this particular area may not be accepted by society. The opinion of a child was also considered in this matter. However, it is noteworthy that the perspective of elderly adults was not taken into account when addressing the question of elder care.

The researchers asked the AI experts to focus only on the technical aspects of automating the discussed tasks. However, some of the respondents found it difficult or were not willing to disregard societal factors while doing so. One of the researchers noted that the products or tools that the market brings to people depend on what people are likely and reasonably able to use, besides what is technically possible.