Japan-UK Team Says 40% Of Home Chores To Be Automated Soon

People could be spending 40% less time on housework and family-care tasks within the next decade thanks to AI automation, a team of researchers from Ochanomizu University and the University of Oxford told Yomiuri Shimbun.

Photo Insert: The results, published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, were based on a survey of 65 Japanese and British artificial intelligence experts.

The results, published recently in the journal PLOS ONE, were based on a survey of 65 Japanese and British artificial intelligence experts.

Researchers used the Delphi method — a process for gathering opinions on a specific academic topic — to collect participants’ feedback on the potential automation of 17 housework and care-related tasks.

Results were relayed back to the participants, and they were given the chance to revise their thinking if they so desired.

“Grocery shopping,” topped the list of potentially automatable tasks, with 59% or participants believing automation was possible within the next decade.

Fifty-two percent thought “use of services,” such as banking transactions, was achievable, while 50% said “non-grocery shopping” would also become automated. Childcare was thought less likely to become automated in comparison with household chores.

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