"Without both significant increases in processing power AND significant improvements in AI this isn't too likely to happen any time soon."
It's already been happening for some time, starting with electronic document filing and analysis of legal decisions, etc. Filing clerks are pretty much a thing of the past, as are runners.
A lot of office and professional work is simple algorithmical stuff. Automating it is relatively easy and cost-effective - far more so than automating low-grade, low paid work like burger flipping.
Yes, the oncoming AI and robotic revolution will make more white collar workers redundant than factory ones. You're going to see far more unemployable accountants, programmers and bank traders (or patent clerks) in the very near future than sandwich makers, drain cleaners or hairdressers.
And for what it's worth - This was predicted a long time ago. Valuable jobs with a high intellectual input and low requirement for expensive mechanical power or high dexterity have a higher incentive for replacement/automation than the mundane ones. At some point electronic brains become cheaper than wetware ones and then all bets are off.
In part this is why a plumber or an electrician is already more expensive than an IT worker. It's just going to snowball from here.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
