【Silip】

It's the classic ABCs of business — Always Be Computing.

The SilipCEO of Asia's largest ecommerce company said at a conference in China over the weekend he believes that we're just a few decades away from having robots run our companies.

SEE ALSO: Bill Gates: There should be a 'robot tax' on the machines that take your jobs

"In 30 years, a robot will likely be on the cover of Time Magazineas the best CEO," said Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba, according to a CNN report.

First of all, good news for Timethat they're going to be around in 30 years. Did not see that coming.

Credit: studiostoks/shutterstock

Don't freak out just yet. Ma, who is often compared to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, said that he sees a future where artificial intelligence works with people to create a better world. But that doesn't mean things are going to get better in the near term as we figure out how to work with our digital creations.

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"In the next three decades, the world will experience far more pain than happiness," he said.

On the upside, Ma also predicted a much shorter work week — "four hours a day, maybe three days a week."

Business professionals, technologists, economists, politicians, and just about anybody with a job is wrestling with how the emergence of advanced artificial intelligence and complex robotics are going to change the world in which we live.

There is little consensus as to how, though there is widespread concern about employment prospects for workers in a variety of industries. Trucking stands out as one of the easiest understood — and nearest to reality.

Robots aren't just coming for blue collar jobs, however. A report from science and economic advisers to Former President Barack Obama found that 47 percent of U.S. jobs are at least at risk of being replaced. A variety of high-end jobs are expected to be seriously impacted by AI, including lawyers, doctors, and, if you believe Ma, CEOs.

For now, we're just starting to see robots out in the real world performing jobs once held by people. The most common so far is food delivery, with Yelp's Eat24's fleet of small automated robots and Domino's giving similar robots a try in Europe. Some restaurants are eschewing people altogether.

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