Will robots destroy jobs and result in high joblessness?

Washington

WE have yet another study that debunks the widespread notion that robots - and other forms of automation, including "artificial intelligence" - will destroy our jobs and lead to a future of permanently high unemployment. According to the study, that would completely rewrite history, which has shown job creation to be an enduring strength of the US economy.

The study (False Alarmism: Technological Disruption and the US Labour Market, 1850-2015) comes from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, a Washington think-tank focusing on technology. The study's greatest virtue is to remind us that past changes have wiped out entire job categories without spawning a high-unemployment society.