‘Domestic robots’ to take over 39% of household chores in 10 years, say experts

By the conclusion of the upcoming decade, robots are expected to account for at least 39% of the time spent on household chores and caregiving, as indicated by a study published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PLOS ONE. Of this, a minimum of 27% would experience automation within five years.

After interviewing 65 artificial intelligence (AI) specialists, researchers from the UK and Japan determined that grocery shopping will be the most automated activity in the next decade, reducing nearly 60 percent of the time now devoted to the chore. Looking after children and elderly people will be the least automated.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and Ochanomizu University found that people rely on AI the most for unpaid household tasks, with robot vacuum cleaners emerging as the most widely used globally. Currently, adults dedicate around 43 percent of their total work and study hours to routine household chores. The research involved 29 AI specialists from the UK and 36 AI specialists from Japan to forecast the future of ‘domestic robots’.

The study revealed that the male experts in the UK held a more positive view on domestic automation compared to their female peers, while the reverse was true in Japan.

The least automatable task identified was physical childcare (21 percent), whereas care work had an average prediction of 28 percent over the next decade, while housework is deemed more susceptible to automation (44 percent). This disparity arises because ‘routine’ or technical tasks lend themselves more readily to automation compared to ‘non-routine’ tasks, particularly those requiring social engagement. Tasks that require problem-solving abilities and communication are harder to automate, according to the specialists.