Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Bill Gates Says Robots Should Pay Taxes As US Risks Robot Automation Stealing Half Of American Jobs [VIDEO]

Bill Gates Says Robots Should Pay Taxes As US Risks Robot Automation Stealing Half Of American Jobs [VIDEO]

Automation is both an advantage and a disadvantage to the human work force. Almost 50 percent of American jobs are at risk. Bill Gates says robots should pay taxes. (Photo : Axel Schmidt – Pool/Getty Images) Bill Gates says that if robot automation will take over human jobs then they should pay taxes. The American business magnate and Microsoft veteran says that something should make up the difference. While there are advantages to robot automation when it comes to precision and efficiency, there is a risk involved when it comes to the manual labor work force. When more robots […]

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Universal basic income

There’s a new idea that might be the solution to runaway populism. Well, it’s not that new, really – it has been kicking around in left-wing circles for a least a quarter-century – but it has suddenly gone mainstream. It’s called Universal Basic Income (UBI), and pilot programs to see if it really works in practice are being launched this year in four different countries.

It’s populism that gave us Brexit in Britain and President Donald Trump in the United States. It could soon give us President Marine Le Pen in France. But the fundamental lie of […]

Bill Gates Has a Trumpian Plan to Make Job-Stealing Robots Pay

Bill Gates Has a Trumpian Plan to Make Job-Stealing Robots Pay

From Getty Images. It is fairly obvious, when looking at the economic data , that Donald Trump is largely missing the point when he blames China or Mexico for the decline of U.S. manufacturing jobs. “We want products made by our workers in our factories stamped with those four magnificent words—made in the U.S.A.,” the president declared during a photo op Friday at a Boeing plant in South Carolina. It was a solid applause line, even if Trump’s proposed solution—reforming the tax code to encourage more companies to build factories in the U.S.—ignores the fact that U.S. manufacturing output […]

Bill Gates Has a Trumpian Plan to Make Job-Stealing Robots Pay

Bill Gates Has a Trumpian Plan to Make Job-Stealing Robots Pay

From Getty Images. It is fairly obvious, when looking at the economic data , that Donald Trump is largely missing the point when he blames China or Mexico for the decline of U.S. manufacturing jobs. “We want products made by our workers in our factories stamped with those four magnificent words—made in the U.S.A.,” the president declared during a photo op Friday at a Boeing plant in South Carolina. It was a solid applause line, even if Trump’s proposed solution—reforming the tax code to encourage more companies to build factories in the U.S.—ignores the fact that U.S. manufacturing output […]

Robot efficiency makes case for workplace automation

Robot efficiency makes case for workplace automation

According to an Oxford University and the Oxford Martin School study, 47% of jobs in the US are ‘at risk’ of being automated in the next 20 years. A robot arm carries a glass part in the assembly line of a factory. Picture: AFP

It’s hard to argue against automation when statistics are clearly illustrating its potential. The latest evidence comes out of a Chinese factory in Dongguan City. The factory recently replaced 90% of its human workforce with machines, and it led to a staggering 250% increase in productivity and a significant 80% drop in defects.

THE […]

Are Robots Coming for Your Job?

“Humans,” a drama about people collaborating with robots referred to as “synths,” launched its second season on AMC Feb. 13.

Curiosity, uncertainty and apprehension of the coming age of robots underlie the science fiction series . Similar sentiments were seen in a campaign against the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s former pick for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, who withdrew his controversial nomination Feb. 15.

The campaign featured robot characters whose catchphrase is: “We’re coming for your job.” The tagline was in response to Puzder’s previous statements expressing a preference for robots and automation over human workers. The former nominee and CEO […]

Can Trump bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs?

Candidate and now President Donald Trump has talked a lot about bringing well-paying manufacturing jobs back to the United States. As Trump sees it, the manufacturing sector in the U.S., once the standard-bearer that others sought to emulate, has now been brought to its knees with massive job losses. What and who are to blame for this saturnine state of affairs? The “what” is explained by international trade and the one-sided trade deals that feckless U.S. leaders have negotiated in the past. The “who” is still unclear, but it looks like it is nations like China and Mexico.

To remedy […]

The robot that takes your job should pay taxes, says Bill Gates

The robot that takes your job should pay taxes, says Bill Gates

Your browser does not support HTML5 video. Robots are taking human jobs. But Bill Gates believes that governments should tax companies’ use of them, as a way to at least temporarily slow the spread of automation and to fund other types of employment.

It’s a striking position from the world’s richest man and a self-described techno-optimist who co-founded Microsoft, one of the leading players in artificial-intelligence technology.

In a recent interview with Quartz, Gates said that a robot tax could finance jobs taking care of elderly people or working with kids in schools, for which needs are unmet and to which […]

Interview: The Automation Boom in Mexico

Interview: The Automation Boom in Mexico

Jeff Burnstein, President of A3, says Mexico may be the next global player in the automation arena, but the international skills gap could be problematic.

An assembly worker builds automation equipment at Festo’s new facility, which is strategically located to ship parts anywhere in North America, specifically to Mexico. Last year proved record-setting for robotics in terms of orders and shipments in North America, according to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA). A total of 34,606 robots valued at approximately $1.9 billion were ordered in North America—a 10% jump from 2015. Orders for robots spiked 61% in assembly applications […]

Let’s Make America’s Factories Great Again

Let's Make America's Factories Great Again

There has been considerable discussion about bringing back manufacturing to the U.S.

This was a major focus of Donald Trump’s campaign for President. Not surprisingly, there is similar discussion in other advanced countries. Teresa May, Prime Minister of Great Britain, has called for an industrial strategy to restore Britain’s manufacturing prowess. In France, Marie le Pen’s platform includes a “Made in France” policy, which sounds similar to President Trump’s “America First” plan.

It will be extremely difficult to bring back manufacturing to those places where it was previously. There are several reasons.First, manufacturing has changed. New factories now rely more on […]