The rise of robot waiter

7. Journalists

Delegates talk with Scott Hassan, CEO of America-based Suitable Technologies USA, through a remote robot mointoring system during the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2014, also known as the Summer Davos forum, in Tianjin, North China, Sep 11, 2014. [Photo/IC]

Yes, readers might be reading a piece of news written by robots. With a set of programs, robots are able to analyze data, pick key words and draw a conclusion. They can then combine the elements into simple words.

For data analysis-based news such as financial reports and sports reports, robots are more efficient than real journalists. And, of course, they are much lower-paid.

Associated Press started to use artificial intelligence software to write financial statement reports in July. The software can save 90 percent of writing time so AP can guarantee an immediate release of these reports. AP also uses software to analyze sports rankings and game results.

It is bad news for financial and sports journalists, but not for those who write feature stories. Robots are not able to be programmed for creative writing－yet.