1 It is a new job, as yet without a formal title, but one commentator has called it being a ‘robot wrangler’.

They even proposed a possible job advert: ‘Wranglers wanted for growing fleets of robots. Your responsibilities will include evaluating robot performance, providing real-time analysis and support for problems. You must be analytical, detail-oriented, friendly – and ready to walk. No advanced degree required’. Elisabeth Reynolds at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology also sees a future for people overseeing robots. ‘We use that term “autonomous” a lot when we think about robots, but in fact very few robots are purely autonomous’, she says.14 Actual job adverts for this type of job use terms like technicians, monitors, handlers and operations specialists. Journalists have described the role as anything from robot chauffeurs to robot babysitters. Why would such a job be necessary?

Isn’t the role of new technologies to replace humans?