I think some of the example they provide will not hold up 10+ years down the road. There have been studies where people feel like robots are more empathetic than humans. If you have to pay a premium to use a human I think people would skip the salesperson, etc. Interesting concept though.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-to-keep-your-job-in-a-world-of-automation-122831704.html#
The sales person in a shop might get replaced because they get so much
customers and their time go to calculating food prices etc.
However I work currently in marketing/sales and I think you are dead wrong if you can replace a top salesman or saleswomen with a robot... specially if there is face to face interaction live and not through a computer screen.
In fact human connection jobs are in fact likely to last next 100 years at least! However can you program a robot to be more emphatic? Yes, but it is extremely expensive to create an exact human looking robot with high AI. In addition top salesmen or saleswomen can also fake emotions though no doubt many emotions are true also and in the long turn it is best if everyone is happy the customer and salesperson.
The title I used in this thread was not as succinct as it could have been. I was truly talking about technology replacing jobs. I am not exactly sure what you are saying, but if you are saying that technology will not replace salespeople, I think you are dead wrong. It currently is wiping out salespeople today. Have you heard of Amazon and all of the ecommerce sites? Those sales used to be sold by salespeople. Nordstroms, Macy's, Malls, etc. that are using brick and mortar stores are fighting a battle with Ecommerce. But how will we know if the product is high quality, the specs, what it is used for, etc. Well it is crazy, but it is all listed online. Usually, with independent reviews from real users of the product vs. a salesperson getting a commission.
My son currently thinks it is amusing to talk to a salesperson or do get information from a salesperson. Why not just pull out your phone and order it. Amazon can have it to you tomorrow or in some cases within the hour. What can the salesperson tell you that Google can't find in .52 seconds? Who do you trust more the salesperson or the information you find online?
Now if you are talking about highly educated salespeople like stockbrokers. Different answers right? Nope. People are transitioning to Robo Advisors for their low fees and better performance. Stockbrokers have always been salespeople made to look like financial advisors. People are starting to realize that they are not worth the huge fees that they have been charging.
What about car salespeople. People are buying cars online. I can't think of a purchase I wouldn't buy online if the price and quality were better. People are also selling their cars directly to the next purchaser through Craigslist and other services.
House sales. Would you rather buy the house online and save $20,000 or deal with a salesperson? I am confident that within 15 years, people will laugh about paying real estate agents tens of thousands of dollars to babysit people when the information is all online.
Vacations, cruises, airline tickets, etc. all used to be sold by highly compensated people. All automated, with a robo chat help. Very easy to use.
Cashiers, waitresses, etc. Put an interactive menu out and have your food delivered to your table by a robot would be cool and eliminate the middle person. You are seeing this at various restaurants, coffee shops, etc. Why tell a person your order, who then puts it into a computer, when you can just put it into the computer with your phone. Starbucks, McDonalds, Panera, etc.
I sell accounting services. In the past I would forced to do face-to-face meetings. The newest trend working with the tech savvy generation is to do it through a telephone call, Skype, Goto meeting, etc. The new buyers of the services are not as into face-to-face meetings. They don't want to waste their or your time with in-person meetings. I think this trend is going to be the norm in 10 years as the youngsters who have been communicating over their wireless headsets as they play video games grow into management.
"Yes, but it is extremely expensive to create an exact human looking robot " Why would you need or want an exact human looking robot? Why not just acquire a tool that does as good or a better job than the person for a fraction of the price? I am not sure if you are old enough or remember dialing information on your home phone. Those real live people were amazing on how they could find an address or telephone number or other information. Why would we ever replace them? Because you can get the same information for free with your smartphone in a fraction of a second, where you used to pay $1 for the information from the very nice human people. We put up with technology when it does the job better at a fraction of the cost.