15 ways the robot revolution is changing the world

It's arguably the invention of the Industrial Revolution. Humans have only been used to a full-time work schedule for about 200 years. Once jobs begin to dwindle, we may need to find a different way to fill our days. Exactly who gets affected and how is still up for debate, but here are a few educated guesses by people who would know ...

A recent study by Oxford University found that 47 percent of jobs in the US are replaceable with technology within the next two decades. These include everything from service drivers to data analysts to warehouse workers.

So what will we do with all that leisure time? Going out to eat will be different. The restaurants of the future will look more like this one.

Eatsa is a new completely automated San Francisco restaurant that uses iPads instead of waiters to order your food, and glass doors to serve it to you. There's the occasional magical elf mortal in the back to prep the food, but for the most part, this restaurant-of-the-future model is sans human.

Your non-working brain will still need entertainment, but even that's going to change. Telepresence robots are expected to allow people to work remotely more effectively and experience distant live events in a more personal way. For example, you could watch an opera performance from an actual seat in the auditorium without having to leave the house.

Assuming that we're still buying things, our shopping days will be very different. The three jobs mentioned above are the most common in the country and are also extremely vulnerable to full-throttle robotic takeover.

All you have to do is look at all the self-checkout lines at your local grocery store and our online shopping habits (Amazon Prime anyone?) to see this is already happening. Currently 15.4 million people, nearly 10 percent of the US labor force, hold these jobs, according to the same Oxford study.

Highly skilled tasks, such as legal or marketing analysis, are withering away now that they can be achieved by the push of a computer button. As S.L. Mintz of Institutional Investor points out, computers and software have obvious advantages in tracking market patterns and creating algorithms--and they never have to stop to use the bathroom.

Robots are already in the classroom being used as teaching assistants. They can, after all, be programmed to teach just about any subject. Robots are also good for training and communicating with staff. Machines include the 4 foot tall robo-teacher, which features a video of a teacher's face, and a camera that allows the teacher to see what's going on in the classroom and communicate with people in other countries.

Business Insider's Kathleen Elkins points out that it won't be long before computers will be able to detect human emotions and humor, like sarcasm. Going forward, they will be able to manipulate human language patterns and write more like us. Soon you may be reading articles like these by a robot instead of a human. (Note from the human writing this article: That's a filthy, dirty lie.)

The RP-VITA, made by iRobot (makers of the Roomba vacuum cleaner) has been FDA-approved in just the past couple of years, and is being used to allow medical specialists to communicate remotely with their patients. The doctor controls the robot's movements with an iPad from their distant location.

Some countries already have put shared work into practice; some believe this is just another way of disguising unemployment. Workers simply spread out their hours and tasks among each other in countries such as India.

As machines continue filling jobs, work-sharing is a sensible way to spread out what still must be done by humans. The Guardian's Robert Skidelsky points out, "If one machine can cut necessary human labour by half, why make half of the workforce redundant, rather than employing the same number for half the time?"

Research has suggested that we humans are not so keen on robots looking too much like us. Instead, we like our robots disguised as something artificial, or super cute. Japan's PARO seal robot, developed by AIST, is used as a therapeutic tool in hospitals and private homes throughout the country as a way to reduce a patient's stress and improve relaxation levels. It can detect light vs. dark, and also remember the way it was touched and replicate ways humans respond to it.

Robots are already relieving humans of heavy burdens in the military field, such as drones being sent into dangerous regions to make sure they are safe. Soon, full-bodied military robots could take the place of humans in wars. MAARS (Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System), which was designed by Foster-Miller, has provided armed robots that have served in Iraq. They come with a GPS monitor and can be programmed to open doors, drag out bodies and more.

Google and NASA have been working on self-driving vehicle models that will soon populate our streets. And thanks to Jeff Bezos, Amazon drones will also soon replace the need for delivery drivers. No more chatty taxi driver confessions, folks.

Hard to answer, but according to Derek Thompson, author of The Atlantic's "A World Without Work," there is plenty of evidence that shows when people lose their jobs, they fall into depression.

But are they miserable because working is good, or because they are not earning enough money, or meeting cultural expectations? We may have to shift those expectations in the coming years. But on the upside, perhaps we will have more time to do other worthwhile things with our time here on Earth.