Robots 'could take 4m UK private sector jobs within 10 years'

Royal Society of Arts survey suggests technology could phase out mundane roles, raise productivity and bolster wages

Four million jobs in the British private sector could be replaced by robots in the next decade, according to business leaders asked about the future of automation and artificial intelligence.

The potential impact amounts to 15% of the current workforce in the sector and emerged in a poll conducted by YouGov for the Royal Society of Arts, whose chief executive, Matthew Taylor, has been advising Downing Street on the future of modern work.