Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Mnuchin: Automation `not even on our radar screen’

Mnuchin: Automation `not even on our radar screen'

Companies are investing heaps of money to develop artificial-intelligence technologies that promise to transform industries as varied as transportation, finance and health care. That all adds up to big economic change, technologists warn.

But for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the artificial intelligence revolution and its impact on the U.S. workforce is "not even on our radar screen." In an interview with Axios, Mnuchin predicted the technology was still 50 to 100 years from displacing human jobs.

"I’m not worried at all," he said. "In fact, I’m optimistic."His remarks contrast with a growing body of research that suggests the economic shift will […]

Tech world debate on robots and jobs heats up

Tech world debate on robots and jobs heats up

Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are heightening concerns about automation replacing a growing number of occupations (AFP Photo/JUSTIN TALLIS) Although technology has long affected the labor force, recent advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are heightening concerns about automation replacing a growing number of occupations, including highly skilled or "knowledge-based" jobs.

Just a few examples: self-driving technology may eliminate the need for taxi, Uber and truck drivers, algorithms are playing a growing role in journalism, robots are informing consumers as mall greeters, and medicine is adapting robotic surgery and artificial intelligence to detect cancer and heart conditions.

Of 700 occupations […]

Will robots replace workers in the near future?

Will robots replace workers in the near future?

Those in wholesale and retail sectors in the UK are at highest risk from breakthroughs in robotics and artificial intelligence

Millions of workers are at high risk of being replaced by robots within 15 years as the automation of routine tasks gathers pace in a new machine age. A report by the consultancy firm PwC found that 30 per cent of jobs in Britain were potentially under threat from breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI). In some sectors, half the jobs could go. The report predicted that automation would boost productivity and create fresh job opportunities, but it said action was […]

Ryerson students debate $15-minimum wage

Ryerson students debate $15-minimum wage

There was no consensus Thursday when Ryerson students engaged in a fiery debate on the implementation of a $15-per-hour-minimum wage. One side argued an increase would decrease crime and help lift people out of poverty, while the other side argued an increase would lead to more unemployment and crime.

Ontario’s current minimum wage is $11.40 per hour.

Both the “for” and “against” debate teams often took to name-calling and mockery of their opponents.“That’s a nice fact,” debater Will Anderson said at one point in the debate. “Where did you find it, BuzzFeed?”The room erupted in cheers and boos. This continued throughout […]

The Age of Mass Unemployment Is Nigh, and That’s Not the Worst of It

The Age of Mass Unemployment Is Nigh, and That’s Not the Worst of It

HOMO DEUS: A Brief History of Tomorrow By Yuval Noah Harari Published February 21, 2017 Illustrated. 449 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $35. Among the many scandals and comments that derailed Andy Puzder’s campaign to become Labor Secretary was an interview he gave after visiting a partially automated restaurant, where no human interaction is required.

The CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns the Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. fast-food chains, told Business Insider in May that he was investing in automation as a way to deal with rising labor costs due to an increase in the minimum wage, before offering a cynical explanation […]

Taxing the robots

Taxing the robots

As advancing technologies like robots threaten displacing jobs for people, the suggestion by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to tax the robots is justifiably triggering a greater debate. Bill Gates’ argument is that the money so generated can finance the Universal Basic Income (UBI) to compensate for the social costs of automation.

Despite its practicalities, the proposal certainly focuses on the social costs of automation. History is replete with examples of such concerns often raised at every stage of technological advancement. Similar apprehensions were aired at the dawn of computers. There were even trade union protests opposing the computerisation.

But, the experience […]

Treasury Secretary: Robots replacing human workers is ‘not even on our radar screen’

Treasury Secretary: Robots replacing human workers is ‘not even on our radar screen’

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin talks March 9 before a meeting with leaders from small community banks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) Companies are investing heaps of money to develop artificial-intelligence technologies that promise to transform industries as varied as transportation, finance and health care. That all adds up to big economic change, technologists warn.

But for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the artificial intelligence revolution and its impact on the U.S. workforce is “not even on our radar screen.” In an interview with Axios , Mnuchin predicted the technology was still 50 to 100 […]

Hate to Break It to Steve Mnuchin, But AI’s Already Taking Jobs

Hate to Break It to Steve Mnuchin, But AI’s Already Taking Jobs

In 15 years, President Trump won’t have to drive that truck. Melina Mara/The Washington Post/Getty Images Today, in 2017, the president’s top economic advisor said he had no worries about robots putting people out of work. “In terms of artificial intelligence taking over the jobs, I think we’re so far away from that that it’s not even on my radar screen,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told an audience in Washington. “I think it’s 50 or 100 more years.”

Great! That’s a relief! President Trump can go back to horsing around on his big rig confident in the knowledge self-driving trucks […]

Robots could take over millions of jobs in the next 15 years – report

Robots could take over millions of jobs in the next 15 years – report

© / www.globallookpress.com Millions of jobs in the UK are in jeopardy because of robots taking over various sectors of the labor market.

According to the latest report on the impact of automation on the UK’s labor force, up to 10 million jobs are at risk of being replaced by machines within 15 years. Artificial intelligence will create world’s first trillionaire – Mark Cuban Routine and/or manual jobs, such as those in bookkeeping or retail, are among those at higher risk of being cut because of ground-breaking developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to consultancy firm PwC.

The UK Economic Outlook […]

Robots and AI ‘pose risk to ten million UK jobs’

Robots and AI 'pose risk to ten million UK jobs'

A recent report from PwC says that – although the UK has fewer jobs at risk from increased automation over the next 15 years than the US, Germany and Japan – around ten million jobs will be affected. The UK has fewer jobs at risk from increased automation over the next 15 years than the likes of the US, Germany and Japan, according to an analysis from PwC.Even so, the report said that about ten million British workers risked seeing their jobs taken over by robots, while others will see the nature of their work change as AI technologies […]