A new study by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo estimates “large and robust negative effects of robots on employment and wages” in the United States.

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The study appears to contradict the authors’ 2016 study, which concluded that a rise in automation lowers the cost of production using labor, “and thus discourages further automation and encourages the faster creation of new complex tasks.”

But in an attempt to calm public anxiety over technological disruption among those often derided as technophobes, Satyajit Das argues that the world economy has reached “peak technology”. He suggests that 85% of the economic benefits of technology has already been reaching and is projected to reach 95% by 2038.

Read more from Professor Calestous Juma