Robots threaten to take over millions of jobs by 2020, with jobs in manufacturing, finance, legal industries and medicine most at risk, new research finds.

According to a report by financial institution Bank of America, almost half of manufacturing jobs will be performed by robots and artificial intelligence within the next five years.

It’s estimated that the technology will disrupt 25 million finance and legal jobs globally, through computer systems like roboadvisors, robo-analysts, automated trading, fraud detection and credit risk checking.

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The report draws on the latest research to outline the impact of what analysts from Bank of America Merrill Lynch believe is a fourth industrial revolution, after steam, mass production and electronics, according to The Guardian.

Robots and machines that use artificial intelligence will make lives easier, slashing business costs in years to come.

Other industries said to be affected include doctors, care workers and manufacturing.

It’s estimated that approximately 570,000 “robo-surgery” operations were performed last year, a development that allows surgery to be performed using very small tools attached to a robotic arm.

Google has been working on robo-surgery technology. Photo: Twitter

Robots permeate 10 per cent of the US manufacturing sector to date, but are predicted to perform 45 per cent of manufacturing tasks by 2025.

In health care, the report predicts that the prevalence of “care-bots” could increase to $US17 billion over the next five years.

“We are facing a paradigm shift which will change the way we live and work,” the authors of the report say.

“The pace of disruptive technological innovation has gone from linear to parabolic in recent years. Penetration of robots and artificial intelligence has hit every industry sector, and has become an integral part of our daily lives.”

Robots and artificial intelligence are starting to become a part of our daily lives as providers of labour, mobility, safety, convenience, and entertainment.

Artificial intelligence, which is in its infancy, is where machines or software emulate human-like intelligence.

The authors predict that the total global market for robots and artificial intelligence will reach $US152.7 billion by 2020, and estimate that adopting these technologies could improve productivity by 30 per cent in some industries.