Tag: academic

Future of jobs automation

S. You say, “is that just because of low cost?” No, no. jobs could be automated within the next two decades. May 5, 2017 The rise of machines will continue to affect the job market, but as history has shown us, the pros of AI and automation outweigh the cons. The future of jobs: Automation technologies, robotics, and artificial intelligence. As robots, automation and artificial intelligence perform more tasks and there is massive disruption of jobs, experts say a A group of economists, tech entrepreneurs, and academics discuss whether technological advances will automate tasks more quickly than the United […]

The future of work in Africa is uncertain despite technology’s promise or perhaps because of it

The future of work in Africa is uncertain despite technology’s promise or perhaps because of it

A lot has been written about how the deployment of new technologies could help African countries solve, or even leapfrog, some of the many developmental problems they face on a daily basis. But technological advances also do bring their own challenges.

Primary among those concerns is that everything from digital connectivity to artificial intelligence to the deployment of robots do not hold much promise in overcoming the biggest obstacle facing most countries: how to create meaningful, large-scale employment for their fast-growing youthful populations.

This is in part why The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has kicked off an initiative to research […]

Your primer on how to talk about the “fourth industrial revolution”

Your primer on how to talk about the “fourth industrial revolution”

As world leaders gather for Davos , one of the common and continuing themes is the emerging threat of automation and the consequent effect on economic inequality and global stability. Responding to the so-called fourth industrial revolution has become one of the biggest topics of discussion in the world of technology and politics, and it’s not surprising that anxiety runs high.

A lot of the current conversation has been shaped by research with scary conclusions such as “47% of total US employment is at risk from automation.” In a survey last year of 1,600 Quartz readers, 90% of responders thought […]

Your primer on how to talk about the “fourth industrial revolution”

Your primer on how to talk about the “fourth industrial revolution”

As world leaders gather for Davos , one of the common and continuing themes is the emerging threat of automation and the consequent effect on economic inequality and global stability. Responding to the so-called fourth industrial revolution has become one of the biggest topics of discussion in the world of technology and politics, and it’s not surprising that anxiety runs high.

A lot of the current conversation has been shaped by research with scary conclusions such as “47% of total US employment is at risk from automation.” In a survey last year of 1,600 Quartz readers, 90% of responders thought […]

Your primer on how to talk about the “fourth industrial revolution”

Your primer on how to talk about the “fourth industrial revolution”

As world leaders gather for Davos , one of the common and continuing themes is the emerging threat of automation and the consequent effect on economic inequality and global stability. Responding to the so-called fourth industrial revolution has become one of the biggest topics of discussion in the world of technology and politics, and it’s not surprising that anxiety runs high.

A lot of the current conversation has been shaped by research with scary conclusions such as “47% of total US employment is at risk from automation.” In a survey last year of 1,600 Quartz readers, 90% of responders thought […]

A candid take on the future of AI and job automation

A candid take on the future of AI and job automation

GUEST:

As automation and AI continue to transform businesses across the globe, the tech industry is in the process of building a world that will look very different from the one we know today. This implies profound changes in how business leaders will structure their companies and suggests a shift in the skills required for success. We must start preparing for these changes now.

We can disagree about the number of jobs automation will replace, but most experts who study this closely predict monumental shifts in how we work. McKinsey projects that as many as 800 million workers worldwide could lose […]

A candid take on the future of AI and job automation

A candid take on the future of AI and job automation

Above: Robot typing on fluorescent keyboard. As automation and AI continue to transform businesses across the globe, the tech industry is in the process of building a world that will look very different from the one we know today. This implies profound changes in how business leaders will structure their companies and suggests a shift in the skills required for success. We must start preparing for these changes now.

We can disagree about the number of jobs automation will replace, but most experts who study this closely predict monumental shifts in how we work. McKinsey projects that as many as […]

Sean Moncrieff: My new car is judging me and it’s only going to get worse

Sean Moncrieff: My new car is judging me and it’s only going to get worse

No one is safe from automation: not doctors, lawyers, not even newspaper columnists

A driverless Mercedes-Benz car. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Images I managed to get the replacement car. It’s grand. It’s blue. But as I feared, it nags incessantly. It tells me to put on my seat belt, to change gear, to turn on the lights, to turn off the lights. It argues with me over the best route to the shop or whether I really can squeeze into that parking space.

We’ve already starting to bicker, and those who know about such things tell me that this sort of judgmental […]

MICHAEL HICKS: Carrier illustrates the big economic shifts of our time

MICHAEL HICKS: Carrier illustrates the big economic shifts of our time

Michael Hicks, director of the Bureau of Business Research at Ball State University

The final layoffs at the Carrier Indianapolis plant provide a moment to reflect on three trends that are remaking much of the American economy. I start with the least impactful of these and move on to the big disrupters.

A little over two years ago, at the height of the 2016 presidential campaign, Carrier threatened to close plants in Indianapolis and Huntington, relocating this production to Mexico. They argued that total costs from regulation and labor were too much to bear and that they needed a less expensive […]

Why automation and robots won’t be the “end of work”

Why automation and robots won’t be the “end of work”

Galeries opening up shop in Luxembourg: report Snow flurry in Dippach Comment: Can you imagine travelling to work in a robotic “ Jonnycab ” like the one predicted in the cult Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Total Recall ? The image from 1990 is based on science fiction, but Mercedes Benz does have a semi-autonomous Driver Pilot system that it aims to install in the next five years and Uber is also waging on a self-driving future. Its partnership with Volvo has been seen as a boost to its ambitions to replace a fleet of self-employed drivers with autonomous vehicles .

Jonnycab […]