PLOS ONE: In the next ten years, the time for housework will be reduced by 39%
Scientists from the University of Oxford have estimated that 39% of the time currently spent on housework can be automated within the next decade. The study is published in the journal PLOS ONE .
According to previous research, people in the UK aged 15 to 64 spend about 43% of all their work and school time on unpaid domestic work (eg cooking and cleaning, and caring for children or the elderly). At the same time, in the UK, men spend less time on household chores than women.
The authors of this study asked 29 men and women artificial intelligence experts from the UK and 36 experts from Japan to rate how automated 17 household and care tasks could be over the next decade.
Experts have predicted that, on average, 39% of the time people currently spend on any household task could be automated over the next ten years.
Grocery shopping was predicted to be the most automated task (59% of experts thought so). The least automated task was physical childcare (estimated by 21% of experts).
British experts, especially men, were more optimistic.
The authors note that the opinions of experts not only predict the future of the world of work, but also shape it. That is why it is important to take into account cultural and gender differences.
