Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Robots might turn out to be great coworkers

Robots might turn out to be great coworkers

In this June 26, 2015, file photo, workers assemble parts next to robot arms at an auto parts manufacture factory in Dafeng city in east China’s Jiangsu province. By Noah Smith / Bloomberg Opinion

The idea that automation will drive up unemployment or drive down wages—in other words, that robots will take people’s jobs—has become almost an article of faith for many Americans.

Everyone can point to instances of automation reducing demand for certain workers. And with so-called artificial intelligence (AI) technology improving rapidly, there’s widespread worry that many humans will simply be made obsolete. News outlets are full of […]

An 8-hour work week: How’s that sound?

An 8-hour work week: How’s that sound?

Pretty darned good probably. At least to workers.

See Also: Trump: I called off the Iran strike 10 minutes before it began because I didn’t want a disproportionate response to a drone shootdown

A team of British researchers spent almost 10 years studying 71,000 working age Britons.The premise was that automation is advancing rapidly in the industrialized world, raising the spectre of jobless futures for millions. Besides paid income, jobs also provide psychological benefits from production and work satisfaction, as well as generally pleasing social interactions.But what amount of work produces the optimum mental health for workers?Researchers probed workers’ life […]

Researchers say 8 hours of work a week is enough to feel fulfilled. So why won’t hustle culture die?

Researchers say 8 hours of work a week is enough to feel fulfilled. So why won't hustle culture die?

A new study , which found that eight hours of work is all that humans need to be happy, is riling up the commentariat . Indeed, the findings reaffirm what many liberals, leftists and universal basic income advocates believe about work: namely, that we should all be doing less of it, and that if we did, we would be just as happy and more likely happier.

The study, from University of Salford and University of Cambridge researchers, published in the journal Social Science and Medicine, was specifically motivated by the belief that automation and technology may sharply reduce the number […]

What automation means for the gender gap

Mekala Krishnan and Laura Tyson

BERKELEY — Recent trends, and the broader history of technological change, indicate that automation will usher in major shifts in labour markets over the next decade, displacing millions of workers but also creating millions of new jobs that require new skills. The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), having documented these changes for several years, has produced a new report examining how automation might affect men and women differently. A key conclusion of the study is that persistent gender disparities in the workplace, as documented in a previous MGI report, will make it more difficult for […]

Industrial Robots Stepping in to Help Economies with Inadequate and Expensive Labor Force

Industrial Robots Stepping in to Help Economies with Inadequate and Expensive Labor Force

Ankush Yadav | The Insight Partners

Industrial robots is a gigantic industry and is radically changing since its introduction in the past decades. Industrial robots are in general referred to as robotic arms, which perform diverse motions such as up and down motion, and pick and place. Moreover, these robots can be controlled to do different functions, such as transportation, searching, assembly, targeting, and inspection. The industrial robots are mainly comprised of six fundamental elements including, end-of-arm tool, dynamic system, actuators, controller, sensor, and feedback devices.

Robotics technology has been applied to a wide variety of sectors with a […]

Does Focusing on Manufacturing Make Sense for the U.S.?

Does Focusing on Manufacturing Make Sense for the U.S.?

(Bloomberg Opinion) — As part of her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Elizabeth Warren has proposed a broad effort to revive and expand American manufacturing. Bloomberg Opinion columnists Karl Smith and Noah Smith met recently online to debate her proposal.Karl Smith: Noah, from what I can tell you’re a fan of Warren’s Economic Patriotism platform and you’ve written yourself in favor of industrial policy. My concerns are essentially two-fold. First, I think that given the U.S.’s strength in what we might call knowledge industries such as tech, biotech, fracking and finance, it’s going to be difficult […]

Industrial Robots Stepping in to Help Economies with Inadequate and Expensive Labor Force

Industrial Robots Stepping in to Help Economies with Inadequate and Expensive Labor Force

Ankush Yadav | The Insight Partners

Industrial robots is a gigantic industry and is radically changing since its introduction in the past decades. Industrial robots are in general referred to as robotic arms, which perform diverse motions such as up and down motion, and pick and place. Moreover, these robots can be controlled to do different functions, such as transportation, searching, assembly, targeting, and inspection. The industrial robots are mainly comprised of six fundamental elements including, end-of-arm tool, dynamic system, actuators, controller, sensor, and feedback devices.

Robotics technology has been applied to a wide variety of sectors with a […]

Artificial Intelligence will trigger social strife over the next decade

A media statement from Techsauce Global Summit, Bangkok, offered an estimate of job displacement following the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A comment attributed to Raymond Yip, partner of Zeroth.AI said:

“ AI is technology that helps you complete specific tasks. Machine learning is sometimes used anonymously. Although the ability to have machines with human-like cognition is a long time away, it’s estimated 800 million jobs globally will be automated by 2030.” That represents more than 10% of the current global population, to put it in some context.Assuming a loss of this magnitude, it suggests governments are going to […]

No, the robots won’t take our jobs, unless we let them

No, the robots won’t take our jobs, unless we let them

Tom Larter, chief executive of WithYouWithMe in Australia and New Zealand. Source: Supplied. Australia, we have a problem. The robots are coming and we’re not ready for them yet.

It’s true. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to automate swathes of manual tasks and, with it, eradicate the need to employ humans for those manual tasks.

But, before you get too anxious about the robot takeover, or rue the day technology disrupted our workforce, hear me out. This is not new.Technology has always shifted our workforce. Whether you’re looking at the tractor, the sewing machine, or the computer — it’s […]

The gender dimension to automation

The gender dimension to automation

Looking ahead The automation age offers women a chance for higher-paid employment Work will move from low-wage agriculture labour to high-wage jobs in services. Women need to equip themselves

In the automation age, both women and men face significant disruption to their working lives. Jobs will be changed, lost and gained due to automation.

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) finds that by 2030, more than 300 million jobs net of automation could be added to the labour markets in the ten countries analysed, but workers need — more than ever — to be skilled, mobile, and tech savvy. However, these […]