Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Future in the labor market: With work but no job?

The phrase “Future of Work” has become a buzz term. The International Labor Organization (ILO), which is observing its centenary in 2019, has organized numerous conferences and studies on the topic. The techies and futuristic academics have a grand time imagining work done by robots and/or facilitated by artificial intelligence and big data analytics. The HR specialists, trade unionists, economists and sociologists have all joined the discourse and have been debating about technology and the changing work organization in the 21 st century.

For those analyzing the jobs market, the main concern is whether technology-driven changes on how work is […]

COLUMN: Learning to live a fuller life

Have you ever wondered when you stop gaining qualifications? Most of us assume it ends with the external discipline of school or college or university. In short, we tend to think of education as something given to us by institutions (or, for millions of young people these days, bought with huge loans) rather than something we give to ourselves.

Of course, you don’t just learn at school. When I was young in the 70s and 80s people talked of graduating from the University of Life.

That particular academic institution offered no formal diplomas or degrees, just its own kind of wisdom, […]

10 key takeaways from Mukesh Ambani’s speech at India Mobile Congress 2017

10 key takeaways from Mukesh Ambani's speech at India Mobile Congress 2017

As a nation, we missed out three industrial revolution—mechanisation, mass production and automation. However, the fourth industrial revolution has begun and India has an opportunity to lead

Moneycontrol News

Speaking at inaugural India Mobile Congress, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani highlighted the achievements of telecom sector in India and put emphasis on collectively using the new technology and data revolution to tap the potential of human capital which India possesses.Here are 10 key takeaways from his speech:1. In last one year, India became the largest data consuming country from 155 th in mobile broadband penetration. The pace at which […]

Is a universal basic income the answer to rampant automation?

Opinionista Ivo Vegter

The notion of a universal basic income (UBI), paid by the state out of tax revenue to every citizen, is widely seen as a necessary measure to guard against structural unemployment caused by technological progress. Is it?

The notion that automation, artificial intelligence and robotics will put many, if not all, of us out of work, is gaining traction. The idea is neatly (but wrongly, in my opinion) summed up in a video by the wonderful CGP Grey, entitled Humans Need Not Apply . Grey argues that this time it really is different. A similar view is held […]

In the Future, You Might Get Paid for the Data You Share Online

In the Future, You Might Get Paid for the Data You Share Online

We share an enormous amount of data with companies which is often used to train machine learning systems and improve their performance. While the benefits to the companies are obvious, consumers are often compensated with very little — if anything at all. Precious Data

In a highly interconnected globalized world, data is everything. Regarding the economics of “big data,” some people have called data the new oil. Companies get precious bits of information from us — which, more often than not, we give for free in exchange for some form of personalized web service, such as signing up for […]

The Future of Work Is Uncertain, Schools Should Worry Now

The Future of Work Is Uncertain, Schools Should Worry Now

—Taylor Callery for Education Week Automation and artificial intelligence are disrupting the labor market. What do K-12 educators and policymakers need to know?

Today’s 6th graders will hit their prime working years in 2030.

By that time, the "robot apocalypse" could be fully upon us. Automation and artificial intelligence could have eliminated half the jobs in the United States economy.Or, plenty of jobs could still exist, but today’s students could be locked in a fierce competition for a few richly rewarded positions requiring advanced technical and interpersonal skills. Robots and algorithms would take care of what used to be solid […]

Driverless trucks will be (mostly) great

Driverless trucks will be (mostly) great

© Haiyin As the US haulage business looks to become more expensive as new rules come in next year, and with demand outstripping supply, the argument over driverless trucks is getting louder. Here Bloomberg examines the merits – which include, oddly enough, better benefits and pay for truck drivers. It reports that truck drivers will still be needed for urban areas and to override the system if required, but as they will need technology know-how, they would be paid more. That comes hand in hand with lower costs elsewhere – driver hours will be less important, convoys will reduce […]

Michigan’s plan for the robot invasion

Michigan’s plan for the robot invasion

I suddenly realized a walk through a typical day in my life serves to illustrate the coming labor market disaster, something that may cost the jobs of millions of our fellow citizens:

Up at 6:00 a.m. Go down the driveway to pick up the morning paper, delivered as usual by the carrier. With the decline of print newspaper readers, his route is much smaller than it used to be. But he’s reliable and friendly. The day of printed daily newspapers being delivered by carrier, however, is clearly coming to an end.

Off to work. I have a morning meeting […]

Automation refusal puts livelihoods in jeopardy

Automation refusal puts livelihoods in jeopardy

Around 3,000 BCE, written language emerged for the first time in human history. The rise of city-states engendered an ever-growing economy, and people could no longer maintain transactional records solely in their minds. Economic progress would halt unless someone found a way to solve the problem of our limited memory.

Such is the genesis of writing and technology — birthed as a solution to a problem, a pathway to progress.

There is much anxiety around automation, understandably so. In the modern economy, humans are employed to the extent that the job at hand requires physical labor, cognitive ability or both. Since […]

Mexico Could See Employment Increase as a Result of Automation, Study Finds

Mexico Could See Employment Increase as a Result of Automation, Study Finds

Industrial automation is more likely to create new jobs in Mexico than increase unemployment, says the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in a new report.

The study, which is centered on new technologies that threaten jobs across the world, has found that manufacturers who increase efficiency with robotics tend to expand their operations, leading to the generation of more jobs .

“The increased use of robots in Mexico has also been associated with expanding employment,” the report noted.The automotive sector, which implements robotics on a wide scale, accounts for 20% of Mexico’s manufacturing jobs, while the electronics […]