Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Automation Won’t Create New Jobs Causes & Consequences

C O N T E N T S:

KEY TOPICS In any case, automation has never led to fewer jobs in the economy in the past and never will in the future, for the simple reason that automation lowers prices which increases demand for goods and services, which in turn creates jobs.” (More…)

POSSIBLY USEFUL Their positional value as premium workers has eroded, which affects demand for their services, and also their job satisfaction. (i.e. the closer a worker’s pay is to minimum wage, the less satisfied they are with their pay, even if the reason for the […]

Return of the Luddites

Recent economic studies predict in a decade or two 47 percent of all jobs in America will be lost to automation. According to these warnings, it will not be foreigners and immigrants who will take away the jobs; it will be robots and artificial-intelligence computers that will be the culprits.

We are beginning to hear that if automation takes away all the jobs then nobody will be left to buy the products manufactured by these non-humans.

Companies convert to automation because they are much more efficient, thus producing products at lower cost. Corporations exist to make money and robots will work […]

Is Automation To Blame For Jobless Recoveries?

Over the last few months it has become trendy to jump on the neo-Luddite bandwagon and bemoan how machines are taking our jobs, and as automation gathers pace, they will take our jobs in never before seen numbers. It’s led to a renewed emphasis on policies such as the Universal Basic Income.

I’m inclined to think that much of this is simply bandwagon jumping, and have that the notion that the current revolution is somehow different to all of those in the past is not born out by the evidence, whilst at the same time admitting that governments are largely […]

Automation in Transportation

Automation in Transportation

Working people are living in a time when it is more and more difficult to make ends meet. Wages are stagnant, and the jobs created during the slow economic recovery are doing little to reduce inequality in the workplace. Meanwhile, attacks on unionization, offshoring, employee misclassification, convoluted corporate structures and technological change are threatening the nature of work for millions of Americans. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven automation in transportation poses risks to both jobs and safety and creates challenges for how existing government structures regulate transportation and respond to job impacts.

Clearly, technological changes in transportation threaten to […]

A Startup CEO Makes No Apologies That His Technology Eliminates Jobs

(This post originally appeared on Inc. )

Last week, I wrote here how Wendy’s, the fast-food restaurant chain, is deploying 1,000 kiosks in its restaurants across the country. The company said it was doing so not just to reduce overhead, but to respond to its customers’ demands for quicker service.

As I mentioned in the report, Wendy’s is not the only restaurant investing in automation. “Everywhere, companies like Wendy’s are automating,” I wrote. “Chains like Red Robin and Uno Pizzeria & Grill are using Ziosk tablets so that customers can order, pay and play games while waiting for their food to […]

Intelligent automation points the way to future economic growth

Intelligent automation points the way to future economic growth

Credit: Thinkstock As someone deeply involved in technology strategy, I’m often asked about the impact of automation. Will automation—specifically, intelligent automation—create prosperity and growth, or will it create a dystopian future where workers are increasingly replaced by software robots?

I always answer—and believe—that intelligent automation is a vast opportunity, not a threat. By working hand in hand with intelligent technology, we can achieve greater things. It frees us from mundane, repetitive activities—unleashing creativity and letting us build stronger, more productive working relationships. Intelligent automation makes us more human, not less. Unprecedented productivity gains

That’s why McKinsey’s recent report, A Future […]

Scitech | Transitioning to a futuristic society

Scitech | Transitioning to a futuristic society

Since the economic recession in 2008, the world economy has found its footing and the GDPs of industrialized countries have steadily been rising. However, as businesses managed to optimize production efficiency after millions of jobs were lost , troubling consequences have emerged for workers with low income security or savings. The value of currencies are rising, basic necessities such as education and healthcare are becoming more expensive , yet middle wages are not rising to compensate . Income and wealth inequalities in the U.S. are higher now than ever before in the nation’s history according to a study from […]

SNAP for Week of March 5 to 10

SNAP for Week of March 5 to 10

There will be less white collar jobs available, thanks to tech I find myself disagreeing with the optimistic take Accenture has over the future of technology . For the last 17 years the professional services firm has produced an annual look at how technology is developing, called The Technology Vision and how businesses must adapt. This year, it highlights five areas of emerging technology developments that businesses must deal with in an economy that is transitioning rapidly into a digital era. In its latest Technology Vision, Accenture details how — with advances in artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things […]

The Fight for $15 and the Rise of the Machines

The Fight for $15 and the Rise of the Machines

Once upon a time in America, there was a “full service” lane where a young man on his first job might come out and wipe your windows and maybe check your oil and tire pressure. But as technology and labor costs both advanced, the inevitability of job loss through automation loomed on the horizon. Either you developed the skills needed to compete in a rapidly changing world or found yourself on the outside of the job market looking in.

The “Fight for 15” movement and proponents of that distortion of economics called the “living wage” are clearly on the wrong […]

Automation and the prospects of economic development

Automation and the prospects of economic development

Technological anxiety has been with us since the first modern industries appeared. The angst toward new technologies is mainly about the fear of widespread substitution and displacement of human labor by machines. Historical experiences in early industrialization have shown that new technologies used in production initially had disruptive effects to labor and existing production assets. However, new technologies also ushered in the birth of new industries, created new jobs, becoming the source of productivity, economic growth and development.

Automation, like most new labor-saving technologies, has an effect of raising the comparative advantage and value of jobs that only humans can […]