Artificial intelligence is not only exposing a digital skills gap, but it’s also threatening to turn a lot of jobs into software.

That’s according to Craig Le Clair (pictured), vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc., whose new book, “Invisible Robots in the Quiet of the Night,” documents the reality of advancing automation through interviews with workers in a variety of occupations.

“I don’t think companies are really aware of the broader implications of the automation and AI that’s developing,” Le Clair said. “A lot of the jobs that the middle class or working class have are the targets of invisible robots.”

Le Clair spoke with Dave Vellante and Rebecca Knight, co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the UiPath Forward event in Las Vegas. They discussed the number of jobs that could be affected by increased automation and areas that solutions providers should explore to close the digital skills gap (see the full interview with transcript here). (* Disclosure below.)

At least 16% affected

Robots are “invisible” because automation is increasingly powered by software running in data centers that most people never see, according to Le Clair. His firm has compiled data that quantifies the projected impact over the next decade.

“Our estimates are very conservative compared to some of the other reports,” Le Clair said. “They’re at 45% to 50% of workers over 10 years being displaced, and we think it’s 16%. When you look at just the U.S. numbers of 160 million workers today, that’s a lot of people.”

To address the loss of jobs, a combination of education and a shift in hiring models will be needed. The shift would be achieved by paying closer attention to hiring people with “constructive ambition,” according to Le Clair.

“This is the ability in employees to go a little out of the box and learn, to challenge themselves and to close that digital skills gap,” Le Clair said. “Companies need to get better at identifying constructive ambition in the people they’re hiring.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of UiPath Forward. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for UiPath Forward. Neither UiPath, the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE