Category: Automation Impact on Jobs

Robots vs humans? AI and the future of the workplace

Robots vs humans? AI and the future of the workplace

TV series "Humans" shows robots taking over simple human tasks Photo: Channel 4 As more work becomes automated, jobs will be lost but also created. How can HR respond to the changes in the workplace that artificial intelligence brings, and build the right skills and culture to make the most of them?

Robots. Siri. Image recognition software. Thinking machines. Over the last decade, the types and definitions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have ranged across a wide spectrum. A future of smart homes and smart cars, driven by AI, is no longer a distant reality.

This future poses questions to businesses; […]

Trump is right to ditch TPP. How about the WTO next?

Trump is right to ditch TPP. How about the WTO next?

President-elect Donald Trump faces heavy pressure from the establishment to abandon his campaign promises on trade policy. His announcement on Monday saying that he would pull out of President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on his first day in office shows that he’s not giving in – and for the sake of a healthy economy he must stand his ground.

Tune into Worldwide Exchange on Wednesday Nov. 23 at 5:15 am when Alan Tonelson will make a guest appearance.

Trade supporters are employing arguments that have repulsed challengers for decades, at least in the halls of government: that the string […]

How robots are changing Minnesota’s workforce

How robots are changing Minnesota's workforce

Baxter, a two-armed robot, has been with Atlas Manufacturing for more than a year, performing tasks that would otherwise require two human operators. On the main floor of Minneapolis-based Atlas Manufacturing, Baxter is hard at work: She places metal pieces on a giant machine in a process that bends and punches parts before picking up the pieces and carefully arranging them on a nearby counter.

It’s a repetitive task, and at times, agonizing. But Baxter doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she’s able to do the work around the clock throughout the year — without requiring lunch breaks. Or sick […]

‘Technological Automation and the Soft Skill Revolution’ has no comments

'Technological Automation and the Soft Skill Revolution' has no comments

In 2014 technology research firm Gartner projected that one-third of global jobs will be replaced by robotics, software, or machine learning by 2025. While technological advancements have been shifting entire labor markets since the beginning of time, the rate at which Moore’s Law is increasingly blurring the lines between algorithmic computing and human decision making promises to make this era of automation far different than those that have come before.

As about half of all jobs in both the U.S. and OECD countries become automated over the next two decades, governments and firms across the world must adapt to a […]

The LoweBot Robot Shows Technology May Be On a (Crushing) Roll (Over Human Employment)

For the last couple years, I have done a fair amount of speaking around the country discussing looming technological and demographic changes that will dramatically alter the workers’ compensation industry. In relation to the impact that automation and robotics eventually will have on the workforce, one of the examples I have discussed was the testing of a customer service robot at a Lowes Home Improvement Store in California.

Well, it appears the testing is over, and Lowes is rolling out 22 “Lo-bots” to 11 San Francisco Bay Area locations . The Lo-Bot is bilingual, and will greet people in the […]

Compulsory Education Exacerbates Automation’s Job Loss

There has been much speculation and justified anxiety concerning how advances in Computer Science (in the field of Artificial Intelligence – AI – in particular) and Robotics could result in mass unemployment due to automation. However, the fact that compulsory education exacerbates this especially problematic aspect of technological progress is largely neglected in such discussions.

Although AI does indeed pose a threat for many jobs that can be automated (in manufacturing, for example), there are many more ‘jobs’ that require human creativity and imagination. Furthermore, even the AIs will have to be monitored; Amitai Etzioni and Oren Etzioni (2016), for […]

Alice Lang: Automation and unemployment

Alice Lang: Automation and unemployment

Remember the "Terminator" movie series, which featured humans fighting intelligent machines that tried to take over the world? While this scenario may seem far-fetched, the increasing use of computers in the workplace has significantly reduced job opportunities.

I recently had the opportunity to tour a distribution center which opened this year in the Upstate. I was impressed by the cleanliness and orderly structure of the business, as well as the enormous number of products that it sends out each week.

However, there was one disturbing aspect that stood out from the tour: There were very few workers in the huge, 1.5 […]

Technology is exacerbating unemployment and wage stagnation – and it’s set to only get worse

Technology is exacerbating unemployment and wage stagnation – and it's set to only get worse

In Silicon Valley, only 1.8 per cent of workers are employed in new industries For most people, a secure, fairly paid job is the difference between a reasonable life and destitution. Today changes in the structure of the work force make this objective increasingly elusive.

Technology exacerbated declines in employment and incomes by eliminating certain tasks and deskilling many jobs. Robotics and complex computerised equipment successfully replaced often skilled labour. Computer software is now replacing journalists being able to synthesise news items electronically up crawling the worldwide web. Even traders in financial markets are being replaced by automated algorithms.

In the […]

New UN report on automation: low-skill jobs are disappearing much faster than expected, especially in the developing world

New UN report on automation: low-skill jobs are disappearing much faster than expected, especially in the developing world

Key findings: Increased use of robots in developed countries erodes traditional labour-cost advantage of developing countries.

Labour-intensive manufacturing in large developing countries with domestic production linkages is unlikely to be reshored to developed countries.

Whatever the impacts, outcomes will be shaped by policies. Developing countries need to redesign education policies and embrace the digital revolution – this approach should be combined with supportive macroeconomic, industrial and social policies. Abstract:Industrialization has historically been synonymous with development, while deindustrialization is a well-established trend in mature developed economies as they move towards services-based economies. Yet recent trends show that many developing countries […]

Jobs on the line in Tim Dunlop’s Why the Future is Workless

Jobs on the line in Tim Dunlop’s Why the Future is Workless

Oxford University warns 47 per cent of the US workforce could be lost to automation. Picture: AP Gig economy. Uberfication. The precariat. These once unfamiliar terms have become commonplace in the post-global financial crisis world. We are witnessing an economic shift and changing labour relations that mirror the major disruptions of the past. Technology has changed certain jobs while rendering others obsolete. Economic uncertainty fuels social and political anxiety around the world, seen in the Brexit vote in Britain and the election to the White House of Donald Trump, a political candidate who tapped into anxieties about economic dislocation […]