Two out of every five Irish jobs are at "high risk" of being replaced by machines, a new study has warned.
The new University College Cork (UCC) study has examined which towns are most of risk of automation.
Jobs in Edgeworthstown in Co Longford, Ballyjamesduff in Co Cavan or Carrick-On-Suir Co Tipperary are among those most at risk.
Office jobs, administration positions, process plant operators and jobs in agriculture are the most at risk of automation.
In order to figure out which towns were most likely to be taken over by robots, UCC researchers looked at population, education levels, age demographics and the types of jobs that are in the area.
Jobs in education, the arts, media, culture related positions, social care and research and development were they least likely to be affected.
The towns that are least at risk are Bearna in Co Galway, Strandhill in Co Sligo and Malahide in Dublin.
'Far and wide' impact
Dr Frank Crowley, co-author of the report, said the impact of automation will be felt "far and wide".
He explained: "Our study finds that the likelihood of jobs in towns being automated is explained by population differences, by education levels, age demographics, the proportion of creative occupations in the town, town size and differences in the types of industries across towns.
"Our results suggest that the pattern of job risk from automation across Ireland demands policy that is not one size fits all.
"A localised, place-based, bottom up approach to policy intervention is needed in Ireland."
The findings of the report will be presented to academics, business people and policymakers at an event at UCC today.
