Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Future Friday: Are you a Techno-Optimist or a Techno-Pessimist?

Future Friday: Are you a Techno-Optimist or a Techno-Pessimist?

Are you fearful that your job will be taken over by technology and you will find yourself in the unemployment line for the rest of your life? Or are you confident that due to your skill sets and your personal adaptability you will be able to work along technology and be a productive member of the working society? If you are the former, you are what is known as a techno-pessimist, the latter is a techno-optimist. I got these terms from an article and video from the McKinsey Global Institute called The digital future of work: What will automation […]

The future of manufacturing is here for the taking in Michigan

The future of manufacturing is here for the taking in Michigan

Tom Kelly is executive director and CEO of Automation Alley, a technology and manufacturing business association representing 800 members in industry, academia and government. Detroit’s story as a comeback city has been well documented over the past few years, as a growing number of innovative tech startups and small business owners transform the Motor City’s image into a hotbed for young talent with entrepreneurial grit across all industries.

Detroit’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is indeed alive and well — but what makes our area so unique is that we are not only home to the thinkers, but also the makers. It started […]

Rise of the machines: investing in robotics

Rise of the machines: investing in robotics

‘The robotics industry is expected to grow as automation expands into new markets and geographies’ The technology giants of this world – Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft and IBM – are throwing billions of pounds of investment into artificial intelligence, a market that analyst firm IDC projects will be worth $47 billion by 2020. But what does this mean for economies and jobs, and where are the opportunities to make money from this automation revolution?

Ed Smith, who works on the multi-asset team at Rathbones, comments, ‘The optimists’ argument has it that increasingly cheap robots will displace labour, but with […]

The future of work

The future of work

The world is experiencing an unprecedented rate of technologically-driven disruption – adding weight to the proposition that humanity will see more change in the next 20 to 25 years than the last 200. Although a critical driver, it is important to realise that exponential science and technology developments (e.g. Internet of Things, Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), robotics) exist within the context of other disruptive drivers:

• A shift from physical to digital mindsets
• Linear versus exponential business thinking
• Human versus machine • Potential for major shifts in employment patterns • Financial stress driving new economic thinking • […]

BRISTOL: Blame the robots for the job losses

BRISTOL: Blame the robots for the job losses

The teaser headline that flashed across the screen when I turned on my iPad said that engineers were close to a breakthrough — developing warehouse robots that can pick up a toy and put it in a box.

Really, a breakthrough?

More like a setback, I thought. Another advance of automation that will eliminate thousands of jobs.The Wall Street Journal reported that several companies are testing such robots in their distribution centers. Robotic “pickers” are 50 percent faster than humans, the paper said. No doubt the engineers will make robots more and more efficient.Thanks to the explosion of online ordering, warehouse […]

Jobs tech-threat weighs on workers’ minds

More and more companies are embracing the arrival of emerging technologies, but the enthusiasm has workers fearing redundancy. Around a quarter of Australians are worried about losing their jobs to "robots" as more and more companies turn to emerging technologies to enhance productivity.

Research conducted by analyst firm Telsyte looked at the adoption of transformative technologies – including artificial intelligence (AI), automation, voice commands and virtual reality – by Australian organisations.

It found nearly two-thirds of businesses are already dabbling with machine learning or deep learning to improve operations or influence business decision making.But Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi said there […]

Smart work capital Canberra ready for new technology jobs: report

Smart work capital Canberra ready for new technology jobs: report

Tom McIlroy Canberra is better placed than most Australian cities to adapt to the changing nature of work brought about by automation, artificial intelligence and big data, a new report has shown.

A study of 25 Australian cities for so-called knowledge capital and knowledge economy found the Canberra-Queanbeyan region is one of the best prepared Australian locations for the technological revolution and knowledge transition. SHARE Share on Facebook SHARE Share on Twitter TWEET Link Canberra has scored highly in a list of smart Australian cities. Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra-Queanbeyan, Brisbane and Perth made up the top five rankings, while the remaining […]

Robots now appearing in stores as millions of grocery jobs are set to disappear

Robots now appearing in stores as millions of grocery jobs are set to disappear

More warnings from the tech sector, as robots deploy in grocery stores. Shoppers are now seeing a tall, slender robot at some Target stores in San Francisco and in some St. Louis area grocery stores. The robots are part of a test program that once launched will eliminate thousands of grocery jobs. To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 10.2.0 or greater is installed. The Tally robot can take inventory and audit stores. Close behind are robots that can restock shelves. LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) — Robot developers are close to perfecting Tally, a robot […]

Why Elon Musk Is Wrong About AI

Why Elon Musk Is Wrong About AI

There’s a growing debate about the impact that artificial intelligence will have on the future, with two tech luminaries themselves—Tesla (tsla, -4.02%) CEO Elon Musk and Facebook (fb, +2.92%) CEO Mark Zuckerberg—as figureheads representing glass-half-empty vs. half-full perspectives, respectively. Last week, Musk commented that AI is an “ existential risk for human civilization .” Zuckerberg retorted that comments like this are “pretty irresponsible,” to which Musk tweeted a retort that Zuckerberg’s “understanding of the subject is limited.” While these comments refer to sweeping impacts, many are debating one specific area where we are already seeing the effects of AI: […]

The robots are coming, and they might have to pay tax

The robots are coming, and they might have to pay tax

Kuka robots (picture alliance/dpa/J. Woitas) A famous idiom states that nothing in this life is certain other than death and taxes. Yet, of the many ways that the films and novels of science fiction have imagined the roles of robots in our high-tech future, paying taxes has generally not been one of the functions dreamed up for our android friends.

Nonetheless, the futuristic-sounding concept of a "robot tax" is now a real topic in Europe and beyond, if still being quite a distance from becoming a real thing. For many years, issues around the rapid digitalization of the working environment […]