Author: automata

employment Real jobs killer is automation, not China Roughly 13 percent of manufacturing positions lost to technology, analyst says

The first job that Sherry Johnson, 56, lost to automation was at the local newspaper in Marietta, Ga., where she fed paper into the printing machines and laid out pages. Later, she watched machines learn to do her jobs on a factory floor, and in inventory and filing.

“It actually kind of ticked me off because it’s like, How are we supposed to make a living?” she said. She took a computer class at Goodwill, but it was too little too late. “The 20- and 30-year-olds are more up to date on that stuff than we are because we didn’t […]

Will basic income experiment in Finland work out?

Will basic income experiment in Finland work out?

Social Security Administration of Finland announced an experiment on unconditional basic income starting from January 1, 2017.

The organizers chose 2 thousand men by random-sampling algorithm. They will be receiving an unconditional basic income of 560 euros per month from January 9, 2017 and in the next two years. The participants will not be receiving unemployment benefits during this term.

One of the experiment’s purposes is to find out whether unconditional income of € 560 will motivate people to find a job, including the low-paid. As reported, the payments will be terminated if a participant starts to receive allowance […]

Basic income for unemployed citizens in Finland

Basic income for unemployed citizens in Finland

Finland is to introduce a basic income for some citizens from next month, becoming the one of the first countries to adopt the policy.

Two thousand unemployed people will be given €560 every month for two years, without any restrictions or conditions attached. Leaders hope the move will improve life quality, reduce unemployment and create jobs.

Recipients will not need to prove they are looking for work and the money will be given regardless of any other income the person earns.The Finnish government is planning to study whether the policy helps recipients find work. It suspects many unemployed people are put […]

Robots could replace almost half of US jobs by 2036

Robots could replace almost half of US jobs by 2036

FILE PHOTO © Issei Kato / Reuters Automation through robots and other artificial intelligence could affect nearly half of all US jobs, a report from the Obama administration has found. Education and job-training programs could prevent the sea change from destroying the American economy.

Scientists and economic advisers within the executive branch studied the potential effects of artificial intelligence on the US workforce and economy over the next 20 years, as well as ways to prevent the technological advances from automation from potentially destroying job opportunities for Americans ‒ which they said it could, for up to 47 percent of […]

We’re Frogs and Automation is Boiling Water

We're Frogs and Automation is Boiling Water

If you put water on the stove and heat it up, it will at first just get hotter and hotter. You may then conclude that heating water results only in hotter water. But at some point everything changes – the water starts to boil, turning from hot liquid into steam. Physicists call this a “phase transition.”

Automation , driven by technological progress, has been increasing inexorably for the past several decades. Two schools of economic thinking have for many years been engaged in a debate about the potential effects of automation on jobs, employment and human activity: will new […]

Amazon striving to deliver soulless automation

I recently watched the grimmest Christmas story I’ve seen in a long time. It was Amazon video of its first drone delivery.

For the past several years, Amazon has been trying to deliver packages via drones. On Dec. 7, the company announced it had officially launched its program, known as Prime Air, in Cambridge, England.

In a short video posted to its website, the company showed the track the drone used to launch, the drone’s strenuous plod across a field, and the customer — a rotund, bespectacled man who had presumably decided it was too much trouble to go to the […]

The Case for Universal Basic Income

The Case for Universal Basic Income

Photo via Public Domain

Universal Basic Income (UBI) is the idea that all citizens of a country should regularly receive an unconditional sum of money in order to pay for basic living necessities. In practice, UBI would replace the current welfare system and it’s numerous existing programs as a more transparent, efficient, and affordable alternative. UBI would ultimately eradicate poverty and prepare us for the future economy that is rapidly changing due to technological process and automation . Let’s take a closer look on how UBI could work in the American economy.

In America, the poverty line for a single […]

Basic income is a radical idea bound for the political mainstream – here’s why

Basic income is a radical idea bound for the political mainstream – here’s why

An idea gaining traction in various part of the world is that everyone in society should receive an amount of money from the state to cover their basic cost of living. People would no longer be stigmatised on benefits, argue supporters.

Dependent women would become financially independent. People would be freed to care for the elderly, crime would fall and the general health of the population would improve. Particularly in an era of fears about future mass unemployment caused by automation, there is a growing feeling that this citizens’ basic income is an idea that’s time has come.

Experiments are either […]

All I Want For Christmas Is A Minimum Basic Income

Merry Christmas. Or Chanukah. Or Kwanzaa. Whatever you celebrate, I hope you got a year-end bonus — because the robots are coming for your job.

They’re coming whether you’re a taxi driver or a truck driver . They’re coming whether you’re a doctor or a lawyer . If your job involves repetition, or information processing, or data analysis, you’re at risk.

You’re at risk because they’re better than you . They never sleep. They never get sick, or take vacations, or go on parental leave. They never break up with a significant other or get caught up in petty workplace dramas. […]

Finland to begin paying basic income to unemployed citizens

Finland to begin paying basic income to unemployed citizens

Finland will give 2,000 of its unemployed citizens the equivalent of £480 every month Finland is to introduce a basic income for some citizens from next month, becoming the first country to adopt the policy.

Two thousand unemployed people will be given €560 (£480) every month for two years, without any restrictions or conditions attached. Leaders hope the move will improve life quality, reduce unemployment and create jobs.

Recipients will not need to prove they are looking for work and the money will be given regardless of any other income the person earns. Read more The Finnish government is planning to […]