Jobs that robots will never be able to do as well as humans

Sponsored by first direct

first direct believe that robots will never be as good as humans at some things. That's why they always have real human beings in their call centres 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Don't get us wrong, robots may be great at some tasks - like getting us through supermarket checkouts quickly or looking for water on Mars - but here are 10 jobs where robots will never be better than humans...

Chefs

Sushi bars may have those fancy conveyor belts that bring food to your table, but we've never been able to invent a robot chef as good as a human one. How can a collection of metals know how to create something that not only looks pleasing to the human eye but more importantly tastes good too?

Carers

While drones may be able to deliver medicine and food supplies when you're feeling poorly in the future, there's no way a robot can replicate the caring touch, sympathy and love of a real human being, no matter what the latest Hollywood film might tell you.

Mechanics

Because we'll always need someone to check the machines. And even if we invent a machine that can check the machines, we'll still need a human to check the machine that can check the machines.

Surgeons

Medical professionals like surgeons train for years to tackle the extremely complex situations that present themselves in hospital theatres or even out in the field.

They have to use a number of fiddly objects, react quickly to what's going on around them and delicately handle the insides of a human with the type of tactile touch that a robot could never achieve...

Artists

Cognitive-science expert Margaret Boden has described creativity as "the ability to come up with ideas or artefacts that are new, surprising, and valuable".

Robots need human inputs and therefore coming up with something that is beautiful may be possible, creating something original would be out of the question.

Sportspeople

What makes sport one of the world's most popular forms of entertainment is the human narrative that underpins it all - the rivalry, the history and the nerves. So while robots may eventually be able to replicate the physical attributes of sports stars, there will always be that crucial element missing.

Detectives

No doubt a robot could trawl through reams of information, locate fingerprints and test if a suspect is lying but the ability to read between the lines and follow a hunch based on years of experience could only ever be achieved by a real life sleuth.

Journalists

While some news agencies have started to introduce automated reports for financial news and statistics-based results for sports like baseball, a robot would never be able to dig the dirt on corrupt politicians or replicate a beautiful piece of travel writing like a human mind.

Lawyers

While paralegals and those who perform relatively monotonous administrative tasks may well be replaced in the future (sorry paralegals), the high-level lawyer never will be. Finding loopholes where there really are none, putting forth a logical or emotionally appealing argument to a jury will only ever be performed by a human at the top of their game.

first direct don’t have robots answering calls and they don’t have any "press 1 for..." commands. Why? Because they respect their customers and know they appreciate talking to real people.