Will robots someday take everybody’s job? Not likely, says Byron Reese. Instead, technologies such as artificial intelligence and automation will increase workers’ productivity.

Reese is a keynote speaker Executive Forum North America, taking place next week in Austin, Texas. He’s also CEO and publisher at technology research company Gigaom and a founder of several technology firms. And he’s the author of The Fourth Age: Smart Robots, Conscious Computers and the Future of Humanity.

“I don’t think we have anything to worry about,” Reese said in an interview included in the latest issue of Staffing Industry Review magazine.

“I mean, if you look at technology, what it does is increase human productivity, and that’s always a good thing,” Reese said. “If it wasn’t a good thing, then it would be better if you passed a law making everybody work with one arm tied behind your back. And we know that’s ridiculous. So, technology increases productivity and when you increase human productivity, you open up new opportunities.”

For example, while the Internet may have destroyed some jobs, it created a lot more.

Still, AI and automation will impact the staffing industry, providing more insight into data, Reese said. Although in the end, the industry itself is not automatable.

Reese is set to speak at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 27 at the Executive Forum North America.

Other keynote speakers are Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, who will discuss “The Next Recession: When and How Bad?” on Feb. 27; and author Daniel Pink will discuss “To Sell Is Human: The New ABCs of Moving Others” on Feb. 26.

For more information on the Executive Form North America, click here. The event runs from Monday through Feb. 28 at the JW Marriott Austin in Texas.