Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

AI: Boon to business, bane to low-skilled workers

AI: Boon to business, bane to low-skilled workers

VIDEO CONFERENCE ON TECH VISION. JP Palpallatoc, Accenture PH digital lead, discusses his company’s technology vision for 2017 in a video conference with Cebu’s business reporters held at Accenture’s office in I.T. Park, Barangay Apas, Cebu City. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA) As artificial intelligence (AI) moves to the forefront of business operations in the Philippines, the workforce needs to learn more complex skills to cushion the risk of losing jobs to automation.

JP Palpallatoc, Accenture Philippines digital lead, said that with the rise of AI comes the risk of employment reduction, especially among those with lower-level skills.

“We need to move those […]

What happens when robots take our jobs?

What happens when robots take our jobs?

Technologies such as big data , advanced analytics, the Internet of things , wearables, advanced robotics, learning machines and 3D printing are finding their way into factories.

Despite the sluggishness of change on today’s factory floors, this digital wave is slowly but surely revolutionizing manufacturing , contributing to major productivity enhancements and the emergence of innovative production paradigms that deliver more tailored and efficient solutions.

Needless to say, this transformation has profound implications for manufacturing employment, affecting everything from the size of the workforce, to the skillsets required and the locations of factories. Will this fourth Industrial Revolution lead to a […]

The Trade Red Herring

Trade policy is a hot button political issue, and it’s also one of the biggest distractions. It’s often said that politics makes strange bedfellows. Both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump believe that U.S. trade policy is largely to blame for the hollowing out of high paying, working class jobs. However, the data suggests otherwise.

Let me acknowledge at the outset that I have a vested economic interest in supporting free trade (I am, however, genuinely supportive of it but do recognize that there are also costs to free trade which trade policy should address). My skateboard and skate apparel business, […]

Elon Musk: Automation Will Force Governments to Introduce Universal Basic Income

Elon Musk: Automation Will Force Governments to Introduce Universal Basic Income

Elon Musk believes artificial intelligence that is much smarter than the smartest human on Earth could result in dangerous situations.

Musk argues that the government must introduce a universal basic income program in order to compensate for automation.

Recently, Elon Musk had the chance to share his thoughts on universal basic income (UBI) at the World Government Summit in Dubai. At the Summit, Musk had the opportunity to talk about the future , and the challenges the world will face in the next hundred years – including artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and the job displacement expected to come with […]

It’s Not Automation, It’s the Trade Deficit

It’s Not Automation, It’s the Trade Deficit

This kid is clearly skeptical of robots. But don’t blame them — or automation — for manufacturing job loss in the United States. | Photo by John Martin A common refrain in economic commentary on the nature of work, and the changes in manufacturing employment, is basically:

“Trade didn’t take those jobs. It was robots. The robots did it!”

Okay, maybe it’s not the terminators who are doing it. Rather, it’s industrial automation: We make more stuff with less people, because manufacturing is now performed by automated processes. This idea is breezily inserted into all kinds of articles, including ones with […]

Re-imagining the automation disruption

Re-imagining the automation disruption

The idea of machines and humans coexisting as co-workers to complement each another is arguably a more realistic one than AI replacing humans completely. Photo: iStockphoto It’s called the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Curiously, rapid developments happening in fields previously thought to be disjointed are now amplifying each other.

We are seeing this in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, robotics, nanotechnology, 3D printing, genetics and biotechnology. On a different tangent altogether, smart systems are able to address a diverse set of issues ranging from climate to supply chains. What must be underscored here is a sense of urgency. […]

1.3 Million Jobs Created By Closing Trade Deficit Says Think Tank

1.3 Million Jobs Created By Closing Trade Deficit Says Think Tank

Trade pressure and faltering U.S. competitiveness, not automation was the main reason the U.S. lost 5.7 million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF).

“We keep hearing from economists and pundits that the United States has lost the bulk of its manufacturing jobs to automation, so there’s nothing we can do to get them back. But that’s simply not true,” said Adams Nager, ITIF’s economic policy analyst and the report’s author.

“It’s time to stop blaming manufacturing job losses solely on robots and start recognizing the impact of […]

Seyfarth Shaw Will Start Using Robots For Repetitive Tasks

Seyfarth Shaw Will Start Using Robots For Repetitive Tasks

Image Courtesy of Community Insight Bank The world is changing at a fast pace. With technology at our finger tips, we are able to do just about anything these days. Society is using more and more automation in every day tasks, and we are relying on computers to handle those things we simply no longer have time for.

Seyfarth Shaw LLP, a pioneer in the legal industry for utilizing business process improvement technology, made the decision last week to license robot technology from Blue Prism. The software owned by Blue Prism can automate processes that will enable an individual to […]

Recruitment In Infosys falls to a Record Low Since Its Inception 33 Years Ago

Recruitment In Infosys falls to a Record Low Since Its Inception 33 Years Ago

recruitment in infosys The fiscal year 2016-17 has been the least optimistic in terms of employment in the IT industry, and the sector has all of the Automation to blame for its rapidly changing landscape. The company made public earlier today that it has recorded for the first time in its 33 years of existence, negative growth in employee hiring. The company said that it had recruited just about 6,000 people so far this fiscal year, as compared to anywhere between 20,000 to 25,000 during the past several years.

Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka, earlier this year , had already talked […]

New exhibition addresses the blurring of the lines between humanity and the digital world

New exhibition addresses the blurring of the lines between humanity and the digital world

As computers get creative, a new exhibition addresses the blurring of the lines between humanity and the digital world, writes Jonathan deBurca Butler. Last year, Google hosted a charity auction in San Francisco. Up for grabs were 29 works of art. The prices commanded were unexceptional, the most expensive piece sold for just $8,000. In normal circumstances the event may well have got lost in the mists of time. Only, there was something altogether unusual about the work on show. It was all created by computers.

The paintings, described as looking like a computer’s dreams, were created through a process […]