Economists¹ are sharply divided over the exact timing² of the threat from robots and other forms of futuristic technology. Some see an imminent³ threat, others believe it won't happen until later this century -- if at all.

 

Yet Amy Webb, a digital media futurist and founder⁴ of Webbmedia Group, predicts at least eight career fields are "ripe for disruption" very soon -- like in the next 10 to 20 years.

 

1) Toll⁵ booth operators and cashiers: People who work in the transactional space shouldn't be big fans of the Apple Watch or Apple Pay.

 

That's because the rise of wearable technology and mobile payment systems may make jobs like toll booth operator and grocery store cashier virtually obsolete⁶.

 

"There is no real need for a person to be there every step of the way," Webb said.

 

2) Marketers: Powerful advertising⁷ tools of the future may allow brands to fashion their messages to customers with precision accuracy.

 

Webb pointed⁸ to new experiments with technologies that study customer behavior to identify what kind of ads will be most effective.

 

"This is pretty much unlike anything we've seen before," she said.

 

If these tools work, they may translate to smaller creative and strategic teams at marketing⁹ and ad firms.

 

3) Customer service: Many customer service jobs have been shipped overseas to India and other lower-paying countries. New technologies like predictive analytics could kill off more of these jobs.

 

Look no further than Watson, the friendly IBM supercomputer that won millions of fans by defeating former Jeopardy¹⁰ champions.

 

Webb warns that one of the things Watson can do, though it's not positioned that way right now, is to replace everybody in the customer service department of a company.

 

4) Factory workers: Get ready for robots to steal more manufacturing jobs from humans -- at a cheaper price and without taking breaks to text their friends.

 

The next wave of disruption is likely to be led by haptics, a sensor-based technology that allows people to virtually feel what they are working on even when the actual task is taking place far away.

 

5) Financial middle men: Don't knock Bitcoin -- Its underlying¹¹ technology may steal your job.

 

Blockchain, Bitcoin's computer program, is able to automatically process transactions and create a perfect, reliable digital record.

 

Webb believes blockchain will disrupt the middle men in the banking¹², escrow, insurance and mortgage sectors¹³.

 

"Whether or not Bitcoin ever takes off is beside the point. It's the underlying infrastructure¹⁴ that will dramatically change the work that's being done," Webb said.

 

6) Journalists: The Internet wiped out countless¹⁵ newspapers, and new technology could kill even more journalism¹⁶ positions.

 

Webb, a former journalist at Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, said the next culprit will be algorithms that allow news outlets¹⁷ to automatically create stories and place them on websites without human interaction. Robot journalists (fedora optional) are already writing thousands of articles a quarter at The Associated Press.

 

7) Lawyers: If you're going into the legal world, veer¹⁸ toward litigation.

 

Webb believes non-litigation lawyers could soon be replaced by online form-based services like LegalZoom that can carry out simple tasks like trademark¹⁹ applications, wills and even divorce.

 

8) Phone workers: Many millennials don't have landline phones. That trend is only likely to continue with the advances of digital communication.

 

That means telecom companies like AT&Tand Verizon could eliminate billing, operator and other positions on the telephone side of the business.

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