Tag: consumer

Growing PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2019 rolls out new features

Growing PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2019 rolls out new features

“We are excited to unveil our new show features that will add even more value for the industry professionals making the trip to attend,” says Laura Thompson, VP, trade shows, PMMI. “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the attendee experience and provide access to the latest industry trends and thought leaders, and maximize the networking at the show. What better way than offering more on-floor experiences and education to maximize time spent at the show.”

Robotics Zone
Innovation in automation is driving rapid developments in robotics. This year, PMMI dedicated an entire zone in the North […]

Like previous technological innovation, AI and automation promises increased productivity, higher wages, and even longer lifespans for everyone. But gaining this potential will require development and diffusion of these technologies carefully

Like previous technological innovation, AI and automation promises increased productivity, higher wages, and even longer lifespans for everyone. But gaining this potential will require development and diffusion of these technologies carefully

By Christopher Pissarides and Jacques Bughin

Public discussion of the effects of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) often focuses on the productivity benefits for companies and the economy, on the one hand, and on the potential downside for workers, on the other. Yet there is a critical third dimension that should not be overlooked: the impact of new technologies on wellbeing.

Historically, technological innovation has had positive effects on wellbeing extending far beyond what is captured by standard economic metrics such as GDP. Vaccinations, new pharmaceuticals, and medical innovations such as X-rays and MRIs have vastly improved human health and […]

The Biggest Challenges Facing Robots

The Biggest Challenges Facing Robots

When you think of bringing robots hitting the consumer market, you’re probably inundated with images of machines that clean your house, walk your dog, or, in more nefarious cases, build an army to enslave humankind. Despite predictions and projections of robots walking among us, the truth is we still have a long way to go before we can relinquish our mundane day-to-day tasks to a pile of circuits. Below are some of the main challenges facing modern-day robotics and what needs to happen before these mechanical helpers can walk among us. The Human “Swap”

Outside of the physical and […]

Don’t Squander the Techno-Revolution

Don’t Squander the Techno-Revolution

Getty Images Like past waves of technological innovation, the new era of artificial intelligence and automation promises increased productivity, higher wages, and even longer lifespans for everyone. But realizing this potential will require governments and businesses to manage the development and diffusion of frontier technologies carefully.

LONDON – Public discussion of the effects of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) often focuses on the productivity benefits for companies and the economy, on the one hand, and on the potential downside for workers, on the other. Yet there is a critical third dimension that should not be overlooked: the impact of new […]

The Fed struggles to solve the inflation puzzle

The Fed struggles to solve the inflation puzzle

The old model is broken

The WSJ today writes about the Fed’s struggle to understand what’s happening with inflation. The 20th century model was all domestic. When the labor market tightened, it drove more demand for goods and prices rose. It’s the basic Phillips Curve.

However US inflation is now stuck under 2% despite record employment and a growing economy. The answer is obvious: the combination of globalization, automation and deunionization have made it possible to produce and/or import an basically unlimited amount of consumer goods without causing inflation.Elsewhere, technology has expanded access to raw materials.So the Phillips Curve now […]

Future Automation

Great for the robots, but what about people?. The Future of Jobs Report aims to unpack and provide specific information on the relative magnitude of these trends by industry and geography, and on the expected time horizon for their impact to be felt on job functions, employment levels and skills. Universal Basic Income may be our only way out. 133, Sector No. Learn about Azure Automation, a cloud automation service for process automating those long-running, error-prone, frequently repeated tasks with Windows PowerShell. In this talk about the future of work, economist David Autor addresses the question of why there […]

‘Robotic process automation is the beginning, expect further disruption in technology and services’

‘Robotic process automation is the beginning, expect further disruption in technology and services’

White collar automation has been happening for a very long time. Robotics is a cool name for efficient software that has led to the creation of a new stream called Robotics Process Automation (RPA). RPA eliminates mundane and tedious tasks freeing workers to focus on higher value work. Since the 4-5 years of its evolution, RPA is now the buzzword for CTOs and CFOs as it delivers 30-40 percent savings and operational efficiency in the first year of adoption and continues to improve efficiencies thereafter. Some of the leading industries adopting RPA in the West are financial services, healthcare […]

When Automation Works Alongside Humans

When Automation Works Alongside Humans

When we talk about automation, we often imagine a future in which everything we do will be almost entirely handled by machines. Cars will drive themselves. Management decisions will be handed over to an AI. Even the creative arts might one day be taken over by robots.

But for the time being, automation isn’t quite there. And so, some compromise between machine and human worker is needed. A synergy between the two has already yielded great results – just think about an autopilot guiding a plane for the majority of a flight, and human pilot intervening only for take-off […]

Higher Productivity Is Good for Workers

Higher Productivity Is Good for Workers

(Ralph Orlowski/REUTERS) For most of our history Americans have supported increased productivity, even if it led to economic disruption and worker displacement. Unfortunately, over the last decade that support has weakened. Productivity gains are now portrayed as a tool for greedy corporations to jack up their profits at the expense of workers. Moreover, workers are now seen as so fragile that all automation must be feared. So, rather than support productivity, the dominant narrative favors redistribution and protection from change.

The emergence of this new “productivity doesn’t benefit workers” narrative matters because government policies in a wide array of areas […]

Curriculum needs to change to help students navigate the rise of ‘smart’ technologies

Curriculum needs to change to help students navigate the rise of ‘smart’ technologies

UNSW Sydney academic calls for changes to the education system so future workforce can challenge artificial intelligence technology So-called ‘smart’ systems could cause great harm to individuals and the wider community if today’s students aren’t taught how to critically engage with them, a UNSW academic said.

Director of the Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation and UNSW Faculty of Law Professor Lyria Bennett Moses has proposed updating the Australian curricula on statistics and modelling after being commissioned by the NSW Department of Education’s Education for a Changing World initiative to explore the implications of developments in AI and automation […]