There is a brewing technological storm threatening to eliminate hundreds of jobs and leave millions of workers without a paycheck. Can a collaborative robot save the day?

Listen to this podcast when futurists John McElligott and Ira S Wolfe discuss why robots, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), and other advanced technologies probably won’t destroy occupations and jobs as quickly as many experts forecast. But exponential technologies will certainly disrupt and change how work gets done.

You might find this optimistic forecast odd coming from the guy whose company just created Robo-Rista to serve up coffees and lattes and Vincent van Gogh-Bot to draw sketches of customers.

But York Exponential CEO John McElligott believes the immediate future features a collaborative interface between technology and human workers. “We don’t automate,” he insists. “We augment. We want to make sure that our robots are not taking people’s jobs; they’re saving jobs.”

While many companies are struggling to recruit, hire, and retain Millennials and Generation Z, Generation R(obots) will likely be the real story.  “We’re creating the 1st generation of humans and robots working together,” McElligott shared during my podcast.

But unlike the computer revolution that helped make humans more productive, humans will now be expected to return the favor and help advance the productivity of technology. That’s good news for workers as the jobs they do won’t be 100% automated but augmented.

But for those expecting to sit back and pick up a paycheck while Mr. Robot does all the work, you’re kidding yourself.  Augmentation means new and better skills will be required. McElligott has got that covered too by launching what he calls “the 1st generation of responsible disruptors.”

Listen to the full podcast below!