Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

My Say: The future of inequality and what we can do about it

My Say: The future of inequality and what we can do about it

As we think of the future in a world of Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence (AI) — where machines are created to “think” the way a human brain does — the question of jobs is a crucial one. Machines have been making routine jobs obsolete for scores of years, now they are capable of making even non-routine jobs obsolete. I have, in a previous column, discussed what the future of education should look like in a world such as this, arguing that our ability to be human is our strongest defence against the rising tide that is to come.

In this […]

Rage against the government, not the machine

Rage against the government, not the machine

Fastbrick’s robot can lay bricks up to 25 times faster than a human. Photo: Fastbrick All manner of protest, civil disobedience and sabotage is likely unless our politicians return dignity to the growing pool of workers displaced by machines.

The additional wealth likely to be generated by the rise of robots is unquestionably good, but the accompanying social ills of unemployment are unquestionably bad – and must be combatted by the government.

A prime example is the news on Monday of a $2.6 million investment in a company developing ‘ robot bricklayers ‘ in Perth, which was greeted by a fair […]

Lesson from the cupcake ATM: Better to be a baker than a seller

Lesson from the cupcake ATM: Better to be a baker than a seller

Sprinkles, a chain of bakeries, has installed 15 or so cupcake ATMs around the US. Beyond providing on-demand desserts at any time of day or night, these machines also hold a valuable lesson for workers who fear that robots will take their jobs.

The lesson: don’t become a cupcake seller.

Prestige Economics founder Jason Schenker thinks “kioskification” and related trends in the service industry are just getting started. In the cupcake world, that means the baker should focus solely on making the cakes. The ATM, meanwhile, handles the simple, repetitive task of selling them, freeing up bakers to focus on developing […]

Robots predicted to force millions out of jobs

Robots predicted to force millions out of jobs

The world is has been warned: start planning for the eventual take-over of robots in the workplace, or risk a major jobs crisis.

A key figure in the Australian jobs market has delivered a dire warning, saying that the rate at which robots replace humans in the workplace will start an employment crisis.

The chief executive of Seek, said Aussie companies were in a position to lose, in an age when threats and opportunities from disruption were posing a challenge to all industries.Speaking to The Australian, Andrew Bassat urged policymakers and the media to urgently start this dialogue, and […]

Joseph Mariathasan: The changing face of emerging markets

Extreme political risk is usually seen as a characteristic of emerging markets rather than developed.

The experience of countries just in Latin America seems proof of this with Argentina swinging violently from extreme left to extreme right governments, Brazil’s president under investigation, and Venezuela in chaos and repression.

Yet that view is more prejudice than reality: emerging markets are seeing changes of government for the better across the globe. Economic growth in developing markets is significantly higher and likely to remain so for years, if not decades, to come.On a purchasing power basis, emerging markets economies accounted for 36% of global […]

We’ve been worrying about the end of work for 500 years

We’ve been worrying about the end of work for 500 years

“The future of work” is suddenly everywhere—which is an interesting feat for a 500-year-old discussion.

Since the beginning of 2016, the topic has been featured in marketing campaigns by Walmart and GE, declared a priority by two widely respected global economics think tanks , and featured on the covers of myriad business and pop culture magazines .

The Atlantic, The Economist, and the New York Times have all hosted conferences during the last two years exploring work’s evolution, as have consultancies PwC, Deloitte, and McKinsey; the Aspen Institute and Brookings Institution; and Citrix, Xerox, and Adobe. Software companies Slack and Box […]

Artificial Intelligence: Will AI Take Our Jobs?

Artificial Intelligence: Will AI Take Our Jobs?

As different institutions and firms have conflicting analyses and forecasts there is no short answer, nor a unique one even because of differing assumptions and huge uncertainty about the future. A widely circulated paper published in 2013 by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne from Oxford University estimated that 47% of jobs in the US was at risk from automation; whereas a report issued by the OECD in 2016 concluded that across 21 of its member-countries, on average only 9% of jobs could be automated. Meanwhile, the World Economic Forum also reported its estimates: automation and technological advancements could […]

Is India Ready for End to End Autonomous Mobility?

Is India Ready for End to End Autonomous Mobility?

Anuj Kapuria

Anuj Kapuria is the Founder & CEO at Hi-Tech Robotic Systemz Ltd and the Co-chair of Robotics Society of India.

More From The Author >> Be it self-driving cars or autonomous mobility in other spheres, as the nation makes rapid strides in infrastructure development and modernisation, it should soon be ready for autonomous vehicles. Autonomous Mobility has been making increasing inroads across many domains globally. In such a scenario, the traditional fear has been that automation will take away human jobs. But as empirical evidence demonstrated after the Industrial Revolution, while some job categories became redundant, […]

Need jobs? Get robots, and education right.

Need jobs? Get robots, and education right.

Jobs were in the center spotlight in this year’s election. Trump used it as a weapon against Hillary to mobilize the many millions of voters that felt as though technology, immigrants, and free trade had left them behind. Clinton suggested spending hundreds of billions to upgrade our infrastructure and make state colleges and Universities tuition-free.

However, Trump gave his audience something easier to chew on: a promise to bring back jobs from China and revive obsolete and otherwise dangerous jobs, such as mining. Both candidates chose to stay in the soundbite-friendly territories of minimum wage, taxes , and trade agreements […]

The Robots Are Coming — Will Your Job Be Next?

I recently delivered the keynote address at an education conference at which I spoke about the changing face of American industry. There is a need to rapidly adapt the workforce for an exciting and interesting future brought about by continued advancements in industrial automation and robotics.

Following the speech, I was approached by a woman who told me she really enjoyed what I had to say. Following some pleasantries she got down to business. “I just can’t help but worry though,” she confided, “about what happens to all the poor people whose jobs are replaced by robots.” She is not […]