Recent advances in artificial-intelligence technology have raised the specter of mass displacement in labor markets.

It is no longer just blue-collar factory and construction jobs that are at risk of being taken over by machines; a wide range of professional and service jobs have become newly vulnerable as well.

In the United States, up to 47% of all jobs could be automated in the coming years. So, is the world headed toward economic devastation or will this era of job destruction also bring comparable levels of job creation?