The robot is designed to learn as it works, picking up on the mechanic's personal preferences.

At a robotics symposium in Cambridge, Mass. last fall, an MIT economist said robots and computers will soon replace humans in many . Enough of these jobs will be replaced that it will transform the economy.

"What we're finally seeing is that our digital helpers aren't just catching up to us, but, in some cases, are passing us," said Andrew McAfee, an MIT economist and co-author of the book Race Against the Machine, in a panel discussion last October. "In some head-to-head contests, machines have raced past us."

In Shah's work, the robots are designed to work in concert with humans, taking on repetitive or more dangerous work.

Steve Derby, associate professor and co-director of the Flexible Manufacturing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, said in a statement that MIT's algorithm moves the robotics industry closer to enabling a true collaboration between humans and robots.