The AI industrial revolution puts middle-class workers under threat this time

In the past, leaps in technology replaced low-paid jobs with a greater number of higher-paid jobs. This time, it may be different

• How AI is changing every corner of the economy

The machines are coming and they will eat your job. That's been a familiar refrain down the years, stretching back to the Luddites in the early 19th century. In the past, step-changes in technology have replaced low-paid jobs with a greater number of higher-paid jobs. This time, with the arrival of artificial intelligence, there are those who think it will be different.

Politicians know that even in the best case AI will cause massive disruption to labour markets, but they are fooling themselves if they think they have years to come up with a suitable response. As the tech entrepreneur Mihir Shukla said at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos: People keep saying AI is coming but it is already here."