40% of chores could be done by robots within 10 years, according to a new study

Automation of domestic tasks could have a social and economic impact by freeing up time for other things.

What’s your least favourite household chore – shopping? Cooking? Taking out the rubbish? Now imagine you could hand over these mundane tasks to a robot. Bliss.

This tech-enabled domestic idyll is not as far off as we may think, according to new research, with advances in automation and AI meaning a significant proportion of housework could be handled by robots within the next decade.

Based on a list of 17 common domestic tasks, a panel of AI experts estimate that an average of 39% of the time spent per task could be automated within 10 years. And within five years, over a quarter of time spent could be automated. In fact, domestic service robots – mainly robotic vacuum cleaners and mops – have already become the most widely sold robots globally

Unsurprisingly, traditional housework tasks – cooking and cleaning, etc – are more easily automated than care tasks, like looking after children or the elderly. The most easily automated task is likely to be grocery shopping, which could be 59% automated within a decade. The least easy to automate was seen to be physical childcare at 21%.

Automation means even unpaid care tasks are changing. Image: Plos One.

But, as the study authors point out, this growing automation of domestic work also puts a new slant on conversations around the future of work. Conversations related to the impact of automation on work are currently limited to paid work only.

Housework is overwhelmingly done by women, but it could soon be automated using robots. Image: Statista.

Working-age adults spend similar amounts of time on this unpaid domestic work as they do on paid work. But household chores are also disproportionately carried out by women. Therefore, automation of these tasks could lead to significant social and economic consequences. More time – particularly that of women – could be freed up for social, leisure and paid work.

This is particularly relevant given the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022 shows that, at our current rate of progress, it will be another 132 years before there is parity between men and women.

The heavy burden women bear as a result of unpaid care work was also laid bare during the pandemic, when productivity plummeted for many and/or they were forced out of the workforce as a result of domestic responsibilities.

This article was reprinted with permission of the World Economic Forum, where it was originally published.

Related
You can now talk to ChatGPT and show it pictures
OpenAI is rolling out new features that let subscribers talk to ChatGPT and show it pictures, enabling more intuitive interactions.
AIs accurately predicted path of Hurricane Lee a week out
AI-based weather forecasting models developed by Google, Nvidia, and Huawei accurately predicted where Hurricane Lee would make landfall.
AI narrates 5,000 free audiobooks for Project Gutenberg
A new text-to-speech system developed by Microsoft and MIT was used to create nearly 5,000 audiobooks for Project Gutenberg.
Why Toyota is building a “kindergarten for robots”
Toyota is using a generative AI-based method to teach robots to peel veggies, prepare snacks, and perform other dexterous tasks.
UT med students can now get a dual degree in AI
The University of Texas at San Antonio has launched what it says is the US’s first dual degree in medicine and AI.
Up Next
illustration of computers
Subscribe to Freethink for more great stories