The likes of Elon Musk have already weighed in on the issue of robots and the potential threat that artificial intelligence poses. Nevertheless, the application of robots in simple automated processes for example in the manufacturing industry is still heavily in use. To that end, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has released a new report on automated robots in the workplace, with up to 5 million jobs expected to be lost by the year 2020. 

While the implementation of robots in factories is nothing new, as well as their more recent applications in the retail and hospitality industries, the WEF notes administrative and office jobs are at the highest risk of being replaced over the next few years. 

The WEF does, however, believe that the loss of jobs to automated robots can be addressed. The organisation advocates the re-training of current workers in order to deal with changing technological systems. "To prevent a worst-case scenario - technological change accompanied by talent shortages, mass unemployment and growing inequality - reskilling and upskilling of today's workers will be critical," noted WEF founder Klaus Schwab.     

The research conducted by WEF was done in 15 countries, including Japan, France, Germany, China, United States and United Kingdom. The 15 countries make up an estimated 1.9 billion workers, which translates to roughly 65% on the globe's workforce, according to Engadget. 

You can read the full report here.