Hired in July to run University of California (UC) San Diego's new Contextual Robotics Institute, Danish-born Professor Henrik Christensen says in a recent interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"My own prediction is that kids born today will never get to drive a car."

Christensen says he and his colleagues see advancing robotics and automation pushing two trends. One trend will be the return of manufacturing jobs to the United States – primarily from Southeast Asia.

The other trend is the displacement of workers as jobs become automated. Christensen predicts there will be fully automated, driverless transportation in the U.S. by 2020 – displacing human truck drivers and taxi drivers.

His ambition is to build a research institute that will rank among the world's top five. "Why not see if we can make San Diego 'Robot Valley'," he said when he took up his new appointment.

In October 2016, over 200 engineers and social scientists met at the university to discuss some of the challenges that robotics and automation can tackle. The event also featured talks by world leaders on the potential for robotics to benefit society.