Labour's gab-fest before Easter looked at the 'Future of Work', and all sorts of predictions were made.

MORE: The Soap Box - Workforce being gobbled up by technology

MORE: PM rejects Labour's calls for universal basic income

There is thinking that up to 46% of jobs will become redundant as a result of some sort of technology. One of the headline stories was that your coffee will be made by a robot.

There is no question the 'Future of Work' is changing. But then, it's always been changing.

I've been working for 34 years, and there has never been a period, or even a year in which change hasn't been a part of the landscape.

And the 46% figure is scare-mongering because, firstly, it's a guess at best (the same way all futurist numbers are guesses) and secondly, it doesn't take into account all the new jobs that come along as a result of the changes.

Now as to the coffee. In a way, it's already made by robots. A lot of coffee is dispensed by buttons on machines, the machines having next to no human input. 

But here's why these sorts of predictions aren't going anywhere fast: coffee is art, New Zealand has an extremely strong coffee culture, and coffee is about niche businesses, many of whom are creative and excel at what they do. 

Coffee is about socialising. Coffee is a converstion. Coffee for many is an addiction. And robots don't replace those sort of jobs.

Robots make boxes, robots do menial tasks that no one else wants to do, or tasks that can be completed on a 24-hour seven-day basis that no human can compete with.

If you want an insight into what the robot can do beyond menial labour, go to Japan where they are obsessed with robots. But even their obsession hasn't produced anything spectacularly advanced beyond the comical or the niche

There is a hotel that is serviced by robots, but it's a gimmick.  Dominos might well one day deliver your pizza by robot. But that's because we're not invested in pizza delivery in the same way Amazon might deliver a book by drone. These are experiences we don't really care about as long as it works

However, robots also answer phones for government departments, and robot voices ask you for details and how they can assist you. Well, I'm sure I don't need to explain any further. What a bust and a disaster they have been, the same way the off-shore call centres have been a shambles.

And when it comes to coffee you're encroaching into the world of human contact. And that will never change. In those areas, theory crunches with reality. A robot might well be able to make your coffee. But do you want one to? My gut says no. 

And like so many of the predictions around tech - from the Jetsons to Thunderbirds - our guesses around the future and when it's going to change our world are largely fanciful.