Author: automata

Futurist predicts farming drones, driverless streets

Futurist predicts farming drones, driverless streets

(Photo: Special to The Register) What will Iowa’s farms look like when the combines and tractors drive themselves?

How will Des Moines’ banking and insurance sectors fare when supercomputers run financial markets?

Where will Iowans live when a self-driving car can take them anywhere with the tap of a smartphone?These are the kind of questions Thomas Frey ponders.Frey is the founder of the DaVinci Institute, a Colorado-based think tank, and a futurist whose predictions and TED Talks have made headlines in numerous publications.He is speaking Friday in Johnston at a regional breakfast hosted by the Greater Des Moines Partnership. The event, […]

No, U.S. Manufacturing Isn’t Really Booming

No, U.S. Manufacturing Isn't Really Booming

Employment in manufacturing peaked in the U.S. in June 1979, at almost 19.6 million jobs. This September, that was down to 12.3 million (these numbers are seasonally adjusted).

That fall in employment tells us a lot about today’s American political and economic life. It helps explain why regions that were heavily reliant on manufacturing have been struggling so much, why older Americans without college degrees are so cranky, why labor unions are so weak. But does it mean that American manufacturing is in decline?

An answer frequently offered by wonky economics journalists is that, no, U.S. manufacturing output has actually kept […]

Should we really be concerned with automation overtaking human jobs?

Should we really be concerned with automation overtaking human jobs?

The Henn-na hotel opened its doors to the public last year, and is yet to pay its receptionist staff a single penny in salary. How have they gotten away with this? Well, as it turns out, velociraptors dressed in bow ties and bellhop hats will work for you for free. More accurately, though, it’s because 90 percent of the hotel staff are robots.

As automation technology continues to proliferate almost all areas of work, concerns have begun to surface over the security of human jobs. The Henn-na hotel is a prime example of this — rooms cost just £36 per […]

Don’t blame the robots! An interview on manufacturing, automation, and globalization with Susan Houseman.

Don’t blame the robots! An interview on manufacturing, automation, and globalization with Susan Houseman.

(iStock)

Susan Houseman is a senior economist at the Upjohn Institute in Michigan. I’ve followed her work on employment trends, especially in manufacturing, for years, and wanted to share some of her recent findings that struck me as particularly germane at this point in time. Susan Houseman JB: This election has clearly elevated the view that our manufacturing sector, and the families and communities that have historically depended on it, has been hurt by trade. A countervailing view says it’s not trade, it’s automation that’s responsible for large-scale job losses. You’ve recently updated your very important work on this question. […]

Here’s How Artificial Intelligence Is Going to Replace Middle Class Jobs

Here's How Artificial Intelligence Is Going to Replace Middle Class Jobs

“We are going to move from people to things.”

While transportation, hospitality, and financial services are all industries being disrupted by technology, the next big area poised for massive, tech-driven change may be the human workforce.

“We are going to move from people to things,” explained Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup’s Latin America business, speaking Monday at Fortune ‘s Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif.“We are expecting 500 billion objects to become connected to the internet and this automation is going to hollow out middle and working class jobs,” explained Fraser. “Technology is replacing these jobs.”The technology […]

Threat Response Automation: The Next Frontier for Cybersecurity

Threat Response Automation: The Next Frontier for Cybersecurity

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Reprints Comment Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Google+ Over the last couple of years, software and machines are taking up an increasingly large part of our lives. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), new applications previously considered as science fiction are now possible, such as computerized diagnosticians, automated lawyers and autonomous vehicles. The cybersecurity field is going through a similar transition.Roughly speaking, we could divide cybersecurity software evolution into two waves. The first wave was dominated by rule-based deterministic solutions. A classic example is the firewall. Firewalls […]

Rise of the automatons: Mary Lacity’s latest book tackles service automation in modern industries

Rise of the automatons: Mary Lacity’s latest book tackles service automation in modern industries

Mary Lacity, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Information Systems at UMSL, researches how robots and humans intersect in the workforce. (Photo by August Jennewein) The exploration of how technology can spell promise or peril for mankind is a common trope in science fiction narratives such as “ Star Trek ,” “ Blade Runner ” and “ The Matrix .”

Each series presents far-fetched story lines where human beings battle against sentient artificial intelligence bent on usurping mankind’s place in the world. Co-authored with Leslie P. Willcocks, Mary Lacity’s latest book makes arguments for the efficacy of utilizing robots in industry and […]

Automation for the People: The Public, Technology and Jobs

Automation for the People: The Public, Technology and Jobs

A 2012 research brief by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee at MIT renewed an old debate over the effect of new technologies on employment levels. They argued that, counter to the prevailing belief that new technologies and automation simply shift jobs into new sectors after a period of disruption, instead rapid improvements in technology over the past decades have left some workers completely behind, a trend that will continue to accelerate as computers capabilities expand. But what does the public think? Do Americans see technological threats to employment, and have their views changed since the days when robots first […]

Something like half of all jobs will likely be lost to automation in the next 20 years

Something like half of all jobs will likely be lost to automation in the next 20 years

Back to Topics Mr. Demiurge Bigwig Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 61667 So sayeth many a science article, but this one will do.

The Future of Employment

Given the number of libertarian-leaning people that float around this board, I’m curious: from your perspective, what do you think the proper response will be to a world in which an ever increasing number of people will no longer have anything to contribute to the economy that an AI can’t do better and cheaper? Take a guess, Luddite. So sayeth many a science article, but this one will do. The Future of Employment […]

Are we headed for robot takeover?

Are we headed for robot takeover?

Buy Photo Given advances in artificial intelligence, some have suggested that robots are likely to have a very negative impact on our jobs and that we are headed toward a gloomy future. The most dystopian view has been proffered by Martin Ford in his book The Rise of the Robots . Given this concern about massive future unemployment, it is important to scrutinize the claims made by Ford and other likeminded authors.

Ford points out that we can now design affordable machines that have an almost human-level ability to interact with their environment. Therefore, online retailers such as Amazon and […]