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Rice hosts automation summit

Rice hosts automation summit

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Email While most Rice students were studying for finals in early December, a collection of entrepreneurs, academics and researchers gathered at the BioSciences Research Collaborative for three days to discuss the future impact of automation and artificial intelligence on human work in the De Lange Conference X, entitled “Humans, Machines and the Future of Work.”“To me, it’s the university at its best,” Rice President David Leebron said. “What [conference chair Moshe Vardi] and the conference committee did here is bring people from all different disciplines to think about a problem that can only be […]

Sorry, Trump voters: Those factory jobs aren’t coming back — because they don’t exist anymore

Sorry, Trump voters: Those factory jobs aren’t coming back — because they don’t exist anymore

(Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson/shutterstock/Salon) When Donald Trump moves into the White House later this month, there will be great expectations resting on his ability to make good on one of the central planks of his campaign: Restoring America’s industrial glory days and “bringing back” jobs. In areas that have been hit particularly hard by deindustrialization, like the Rust Belt — which ultimately gave the election to Trump — working-class swing voters will be anxiously waiting for the president to “make America great again,” which to them means bringing back decent paying jobs along with some stability.

Unfortunately for America’s struggling working […]

Sorry, Trump voters: Those factory jobs aren’t coming back — because they don’t exist anymore

Sorry, Trump voters: Those factory jobs aren’t coming back — because they don’t exist anymore

(Credit: Reuters/Lucas Jackson/shutterstock/Salon) When Donald Trump moves into the White House later this month, there will be great expectations resting on his ability to make good on one of the central planks of his campaign: Restoring America’s industrial glory days and “bringing back” jobs. In areas that have been hit particularly hard by deindustrialization, like the Rust Belt — which ultimately gave the election to Trump — working-class swing voters will be anxiously waiting for the president to “make America great again,” which to them means bringing back decent paying jobs along with some stability.

Unfortunately for America’s struggling working […]

You Realize the Universal Basic Income Is Feudalism, Right?

You Realize the Universal Basic Income Is Feudalism, Right?

What does the future hold for average people?

Feudalism.

And they’ll welcome it with open arms, convinced that they are embracing a smart, fair system that eliminates poverty. The greed, entitlement, and lack of ambition that seems inherent in many people today will have them slipping on the yoke of servitude willingly.Here’s what I mean.Have you ever been around people who say things like, “I can’t afford it, but I deserve it…” “Having [fill in the blank with a material object] is a basic right…” “Losing that right is okay with me because it’s for the greater good.” But the thing […]

You Realize The Universal Basic Income Is Feudalism, Right?

Original newz story – Click here

What does the future hold for average people?

Feudalism.And they’ll welcome it with open arms, convinced that they are embracing a smart, fair system that eliminates poverty. The greed, entitlement, and lack of ambition that seems inherent in many people today will have them slipping on the yoke of servitude willingly.Here’s what I mean.Have you ever been around people who say things like,“I can’t afford it, but I deserve it…”“Having [fill in the blank with a material object] is a basic right…”“Losing that right is okay with me because it’s for the greater good.”But […]

Basic Income Pilot presentation draws vocal supporters to Smiths Falls Council Chamber

Basic Income Pilot presentation draws vocal supporters to Smiths Falls Council Chamber

Some Smiths Falls Councilors dug in their heels on their positions concerning a basic income pilot project after a presentation by the Health Unit on the subject last night.

The meeting also saw members of the public break protocol to get their message across.

The subject of a basic income pilot project being pursued by council heated up in discussions around the town and on Facebook pages when Council voted against pursuing the project for the town.The move came after it was discovered that Mayor Shawn Pankow had sent a letter to the province asking they consider Smiths Falls for the […]

Why Don’t Trade Unions Support an Unconditional Basic Income (Precisely When They Should)?

Why Don’t Trade Unions Support an Unconditional Basic Income (Precisely When They Should)?

Photo by zeevveez | CC BY 2.0 The apparently simple idea of an unconditional universal Basic Income has gotten very complicated. The more mainstream the idea becomes, the more embrangled it is, although at least something has become clear. One of the main causes of the muddle is that, apart from enemies, it has supporters on both left and right. This is recognized even in the December 2016 report from the Executive Office of the President titled “Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy” which, expressing its opposition to Universal Basic Income (UBI)—as it is also known—states, “While the exact […]

Robots will destroy our jobs – and we’re not ready for it

The McDonald’s on the corner of Third Avenue and 58th Street in New York City doesn’t look all that different from any of the fast-food chain’s other locations across the country. Inside, however, hungry patrons are welcomed not by a cashier waiting to take their order, but by a “Create Your Taste” kiosk – an automated touch-screen system that allows customers to create their own burgers without interacting with another human being.

It’s impossible to say exactly how many jobs have been lost by the deployment of the automated kiosks – McDonald’s has been predictably reluctant to release numbers – […]

Trump’s push for jobs should not be at the cost of killing jobs in developing countries

The US’ effort to create more jobs at home should not be done at the cost of killing jobs in developing countries such as China and Mexico. Taking back manufacturing jobs from developing countries will not improve US employment but instead will harm the growth of developing nations and backfire on its own economy. The US should work with China and Mexico to create opportunities that are reciprocal, otherwise the US’ global leadership will wobble.

On Monday, Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma Yun met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss a plan to attract 1 million small US businesses to […]

Automation + Jobs: Not a Zero-Sum Equation

Automation + Jobs: Not a Zero-Sum Equation

There’s been no shortage of hand wringing over the job costs of automation—and it’s not without cause. Automated devices are increasingly replacing people in all sorts of occupations. Just as a long list of other technologies have done before. Because dramatic workplace transformations do not occur often, it’s easy to see such shifts as zero-sum occurrences and overlook the new options presented as the familiar ones fade away.

The last time such a major shift took place was during the transition from an agricultural-based economy to an industrial-based economy. And though the tractor and other automated farm equipment did put […]