Author: automata

Basic income all but inevitable in Canada, says researcher

Basic income all but inevitable in Canada, says researcher

Basic income guarantee. – 123RF Stock Photo Evelyn Forget to speak in Summerside, Charlottetown on guaranteed regular payments

An expert on the subject of the basic income guarantee, a proposed social program that would see all adults receive a regular payment from government, will be delivering two lectures in P.E.I. this week.

Evelyn Forget, an economist at the University of Manitoba, has conducted research on basic income guarantee programs in Canada and around the world. She is also the author of a new book, “Basic Income for Canadians: The Key to a Healthier, Happier, more Secure Life for All”. […]

Whither the humans?

Whither the humans?

The impact of automation on IT work is going to be massive – but not at all negative. Based on what we have seen in other industries, jobs will change, but they will not go away.

Many people are very concerned that automation and AI will do away with jobs. This concern seems to make sense on the face of it; for instance, when is the last time you went into the bank and spoke to a human cashier, instead of just using the ATM out front?

It’s not quite that simple. ATMs automated certain tasks that human cashiers performed, but […]

Our misplaced fear of job-stealing robots

Our misplaced fear of job-stealing robots

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Some good news: The robots aren’t coming for your job. Experts say fears that rapid advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation will leave all of us unemployed are vastly overstated.

But concerns over growing inequality and the lack of opportunity for many in the labor force—serious matters linked to a variety of structural changes in the economy—are well-founded and need to be addressed, four scholars on artificial intelligence and the economy recently told an audience at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

That’s not to say that artificial intelligence isn’t having a profound effect on many […]

National Allowance Of £48 Per Week Could Lift 200,000 UK Families Out Of Poverty

National Allowance Of £48 Per Week Could Lift 200,000 UK Families Out Of Poverty

Bold new proposals to offer everyone over the age of 18 in the UK £48 per week in an attempt to eradicate poverty in the UK have been met with praise by the UK Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

The new tax-free allowance would overhaul the current system, which allows all earners a set amount of tax free income per year, a figure which will rise as of April to £12,500 per year.

The new weekly national allowance is intended to help poorer families and individuals, but it would be available to everyone, would be offered in addition to benefits and […]

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn’t afraid of the rise of robots, but she agrees with Bill Gates that they should be taxed for taking jobs

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez isn't afraid of the rise of robots, but she agrees with Bill Gates that they should be taxed for taking jobs

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has an unusual take on the risk of robots taking over US jobs.

The conventional wisdom is that business owners who replace human workers with robots will accumulate wealth — something a left-leaning politician would usually be opposed to.

Speaking at SXSW, Ocasio-Cortez said people should be "excited" for automation because it would leave people free to be more creative. She also thinks robots, or more precisely robot owners, should be taxed for replacing jobs. Speaking at SXSW over the weekend, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voiced her view that people shouldn’t […]

Fears of job-stealing robots are misplaced, say experts

Fears of job-stealing robots are misplaced, say experts

Fears of job-stealing robots are misplaced, say experts Some good news: The robots aren’t coming for your job. Experts at the Conference on the Future of Work at Stanford University last month said that fears that rapid advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation will leave all of us unemployed are vastly overstated.

But concerns over growing inequality and the lack of opportunity for many in the labor force — serious matters linked to a variety of structural changes in the economy — are well-founded and need to be addressed, four scholars on artificial intelligence and the economy told […]

Advocates hopeful budget will include new pension protections

Advocates hopeful budget will include new pension protections

Bill Morneau, Minister of Finance, listens to questions asked by the media during a press conference on the national pharmacare program in Toronto on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. Mr. Morneau recently said his March 19 budget will include measures to support seniors, but he has not provided additional detail. Seniors advocates are optimistic that the federal government’s pre-election budget will include measures aimed at protecting private-sector pensions in the event of a bankruptcy.

Ottawa has been reviewing its options after Sears Canada’s 2017 bankruptcy left its pensioners with a 30-per-cent cut in pension payments and the complete loss of health […]

Dems Pitch Automated Future at SXSW Against Record Employment

Dems Pitch Automated Future at SXSW Against Record Employment

Left-wing US politicians have landed at SXSW 2019. A day after sharing her proposal to break up companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon , US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) expanded on her plans at the event. And she wasn’t the only one from her party here today. On Saturday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) featured in a session where she notably didn’t talk about Big Tech, but instead focused on the Green New Deal and automation, among other topics including pay inequality and racism.

When asked her thoughts on machines replacing humans in the workplace, Ocasio-Cortez said people should be excited […]

Finland: Government Collapses Over Universal Health Care Costs, #Bernie2020 Hardest Hit

Finland: Government Collapses Over Universal Health Care Costs, #Bernie2020 Hardest Hit

“Similar problems are bedeviling Sweden and Denmark, two other countries frequently held up as models to follow on health care” Finland has long been touted by American socialists as the socialist Nirvana, where everything is free and everyone is happy , happy , happy . Sadly, fiscal reality hit Finland’s government as it collapsed Friday due to the rising costs of its universal health care.

The warning signs were on the wall last spring when Finland, as Leslie noted , ended its experiment with “universal basic income.”

Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has been hanging his socialist mantle on the “success” of […]

OPINION: Americans Who Want Socialism Should Consider Moving To California

OPINION: Americans Who Want Socialism Should Consider Moving To California

Trump adviser and distinguished economist Larry Kudlow wants to put socialism on trial, challenge it, debate it, rebut it — and convict it.

“I don’t want us to stand idly by,” Kudlow said at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. “I don’t want to let this stuff fester.”

It was an inspiring performance and the proper response to the madness fanatically endorsed by the likes of Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Kudlow’s speech was needed in today’s uninformed political environment. But it was just a speech. Meanwhile, a real trial is in session in California, which is steadily […]