Tag: consumer

Nowhere to Go: Automation, Then and Now

Nowhere to Go: Automation, Then and Now

Part One

It is in this serious light that we have to look at the question of the growing army of the unemployed. We have to stop looking for solutions in pump-priming, featherbedding, public works, war contracts, and all the other gimmicks that are always being proposed by labor leaders and well-meaning liberals.

– James Boggs, The American Revolution In 1963, James Boggs, a black autoworker employed for over two decades at a Chrysler plant in Detroit, published a short book focused on the nefarious effects of automation on class struggle in the United States. The story told in The American […]

Sorry, But Amazon Isn’t Actually Annihilating Retail Jobs

Sorry, But Amazon Isn’t Actually Annihilating Retail Jobs

Noah Berger/Reuters Beware the lurking variable. Even if you didn’t suffer through a semester of college statistics, you’re probably familiar with the adage “correlation doesn’t imply causation.” But if you haven’t had the pleasure, it’s a fairly easy concept to grasp.

Take a classic example: When ice cream sales rise significantly, the number of shark attacks escalates as well. But ice cream probably doesn’t cause shark attacks. The two things are correlated because they tend to occur at the same time of year but the relationship is not causal: Summer, in this case, is what’s called a lurking variable . […]

More manufacturing, fewer jobs. Is there a solution?

More manufacturing, fewer jobs. Is there a solution?

Technology and automation have impacted a range of industries, including printing. Manufacturing makes more products than ever before, but not the jobs that once went with them. How can struggling economies resurrect their rust belt regions when factories employ more machines than people?

In a cavernous building on the outskirts of Sydney’s CBD, a lone worker tends to a massive printing machine churning out 70,000 magazines an hour.

Not so long ago, it would have taken six workers to do the job, but advances in technology and automation mean printers at Blue Star Web are able to produce more with less […]

In a crowd of truths, we can discern and reclaim what it means to be human

In a crowd of truths, we can discern and reclaim what it means to be human

This is the second of two responses to an excellent article by Antony Slumbers , the first being this perspective from my mirrored room , in this instance offering that his views offer a far too presumptive picture of how technology will shape our work future. The paragraph headlines are from Antony’s original article. One person’s optimism is another’s pessimism. A decade ago the dream of liberated commute-free teleworking was, to many, the nightmare of enforced seclusion to the soundtrack of the dishwasher. The deployment of robots for the performance of menial tasks creating time and wealth for leisure […]

Herb Van Fleet: The paradox of robotic labor

Herb Van Fleet: The paradox of robotic labor

Amid the shrill and irritating noise of politics these days, there have been a few news stories reporting on the progress of robotics, especially robotic cars. Robots are just one of the engineering outgrowths that are part of artificial intelligence and high-tech automation systems. Besides cars, their applications run the gamut from the military, to manufacturing, to health care, to agriculture, to running the vacuum and cleaning the house. And engineers are hard at work finding and developing other artificial intelligence applications.

For private sector businesses, artificial intelligence and its emergent technology provide a path to higher profits while maintaining […]

Automation for the People: The Public, Technology and Jobs

Automation for the People: The Public, Technology and Jobs

A 2012 research brief by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee at MIT renewed an old debate over the effect of new technologies on employment levels. They argued that, counter to the prevailing belief that new technologies and automation simply shift jobs into new sectors after a period of disruption, instead rapid improvements in technology over the past decades have left some workers completely behind, a trend that will continue to accelerate as computers capabilities expand. But what does the public think? Do Americans see technological threats to employment, and have their views changed since the days when robots first […]

Future economy needs future-ready social safety net

Future economy needs future-ready social safety net

As job insecurity looms in a world of churn, we need to attend to the well-being of citizens too

As a consumer, I love start-ups. Airbnb, Uber and car-sharing apps transformed my vacation experiences, opening up cheaper – and more interesting – accommodation and transport options. You can live in someone’s lovely house, get to know them and their family, drive a neighbour’s car, order food in when you feel like it, and even make new friends instantly via social meet-ups.

In Singapore, I use Uber, Grab and food-delivery platforms. I order food in restaurants from iPads. (Smartphone QR code […]

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

In a recent interview, Microsoft (msft, 0.00%) founder Bill Gates proposed that robots should be taxed. He anticipates that robots will replace large numbers of workers over the next 20 years. By taxing the robots, he argued, we would slow down the pace of automation and the funds raised could be used to retrain and financially support displaced workers, who could then move into new jobs in health care, education, or other areas where human labor is needed.

While Gates is right that robots—not just traditional industrial robots, but all sorts of artificial intelligence applications—are indeed likely to automate a […]

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

In a recent interview, Microsoft (msft) founder Bill Gates proposed that robots should be taxed. He anticipates that robots will replace large numbers of workers over the next 20 years. By taxing the robots, he argued, we would slow down the pace of automation and the funds raised could be used to retrain and financially support displaced workers, who could then move into new jobs in health care, education, or other areas where human labor is needed.

While Gates is right that robots—not just traditional industrial robots, but all sorts of artificial intelligence applications—are indeed likely to automate a lot […]

Humans Comfortable to Co-Exist with Automation in Work Sphere

Humans Comfortable to Co-Exist with Automation in Work Sphere

With millions of jobs expected to be displaced with the widespread use of AI, bots and automated technologies, a consumer survey commissioned by LivePerson, cloud mobile and online business messaging solutions provider, has found that about 42% of Americans never worry, and about 32% worry less often about automation usurping their jobs.

"We are seeing tremendous interest from large brands as we help them build out their bots strategy and integrate bots into their digital and customer care organizations, right alongside their human agents," says Rurik Bradbury, global head of communications and research, LivePerson. "We commissioned this research as part […]