Tag: consumer

When robots and AI come, what jobs will be left?

When robots and AI come, what jobs will be left?

Experts are divided about the jobs that will be left for humans once artificial intelligence, robotics and automation are fully deployed. If you’re prone to fretting about robots eating your job, or the jobs of your kids, get over it.

We will eventually become indistinguishable from robots, says Hiroshi Ishiguro, a professor of robotics at Osaka University. Ishiguro is a pioneer builder of human-like androids and had a cameo role in the 2009 Bruce Willis film Surrogates , in which people lived their lives through remote‑controlled surrogates from the safety of their own homes.

In about 100 years, Ishiguro says, only […]

Why is Gartner spewing such irresponsible and unsubstantiated data about “robobosses”?

Why is Gartner spewing such irresponsible and unsubstantiated data about “robobosses”?

Clients are being subjected to such a load of nonsense about the impending impact of robotics and cognitive computing on enterprise jobs, many are literally terrified. Conversing with the “head of automation” for a F500 organization today, is akin to meeting a Secret Service agent in a clandestine alleyway. These people do actually exist, but most have to conduct their work under a veil of secrecy, due to the level of discomfort and panic our robo-commentators are making in the presses.

Remember the panic about jobs getting shipped offshore? Well, that is child’s play compared to the emerging tumult of […]

“Silicon Collar” – a realistic view of automation eliminating jobs

“Silicon Collar” – a realistic view of automation eliminating jobs

Editor’s note: The buzz about robots and automation eliminating humans’ jobs is like a squeaking hinge, getting louder and causing more friction almost daily. Released this month, “Silicon Collar,” Vinnie Mirchandani’s fourth book about technology and innovation, is a must-read for employers making decisions about automation as well as for employees who fear their job will be eliminated by technology. Whatever your opinion is about technology and jobs, I believe reading this book will enhance or change your opinion.

I’ve read Vinnie’s three earlier books about technology and innovation, so I felt sure there would be important insights […]

Enemy is poor education, not mechanisation

Enemy is poor education, not mechanisation

THE replacement of people in the workplace by machines has been feared throughout history. During the Industrial Revolution, workers known as Luddites attacked and destroyed the machines that threatened their jobs.

Yet while mechanisation did bring great hardship to the cottage weavers and spinners, fears of widespread unemployment proved unfounded. Mechanisation brought about rising prosperity and demand for new products and services. Lower production costs meant lower prices, which generated greater demand for goods previously affordable only to the wealthy.

As a result, the new machines set the scene for massive increases in jobs, wages and prosperity unequalled in history.Today, the […]

Global warming and robotics: the two biggest threats to the ‘Asian Century’

Global warming and robotics: the two biggest threats to the ‘Asian Century’

A beer assembly line inside a brewery in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Such automation could keep factory jobs and provide more high-end jobs. But as China moves up the value chain – and no longer has an endless supply of cheap labour – India and the ASEAN member countries are expected to fill its role. Photo: Reuters We are living in the “Asian Century”, so called because by 2050, the region is projected to be as wealthy as Europe on a per capita basis, and hold a dominant share of global economic output.

But what if it turns out to be […]

Should you hire robots?

Should you hire robots?

With an increasing focus on automation through robotics, digitisation and even artificial intelligence , humanity is in the midst of a new industrial revolution.

In the next decade more than 40 per cent of the jobs we know today will no longer exist according to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, replaced by jobs we can’t even imagine yet. A quick look at LinkedIn tells us the majority of roles being advertised have the word ‘ digital’ in the role title.

So how should business leaders respond to the questions and concerns of team members? At ANZ, the most frequently […]

How trade impacts American jobs: Research roundup

How trade impacts American jobs: Research roundup

Container ship (Photo: Pixabay) Economic dogma asserts that free trade improves everyone’s wellbeing. For decades, both major American political parties have hailed free trade with other countries as critical to voters’ well being. But candidates in the 2016 presidential election have raised piercing questions about the benefits, with both major party nominees distancing themselves from the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a pact with bilateral support that was seven-years-in-the-making. The Republican nominee is even proposing to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement ( NAFTA ), a signature policy of the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.

Rapidly increasing […]

CMV: Automation will continue to increase productivity and minimize employment, but the U.S. will NEVER see anything like a basic income.

CMV: Automation will continue to increase productivity and minimize employment, but the U.S. will NEVER see anything like a basic income.

Hi /u/SajunBecker . I’m wrapping up my master’s degree this year and have taken a decent number of courses pertaining to labor economics and macroeconomic development. Thus, if you’d like any more detail than what I’m providing (going to try to keep things short, for everyone’s sake), please feel free to ask! 🙂

So, basically there’s a few things going on here. First, as a few others have already pointed out, we do technically have some forms of pseudo-basic income (social security, AFDC, Food Stamps, subsidized housing programs, etc. are all efforts to combat unemployment and poverty and thus efforts […]

Automation and Jobs for People

Automation and Jobs for People
Since the introduction of the first machines for weaving cloth and other automated processes during the Industrial Revolution, manufacturers have relied more on machines and less on humans for labor. Automation increased during the latter half of the 20th century, as computers were combined with machines to produce highly sophisticated robotic systems and other automated processes. Improvements in communication and information technology moved automation from strictly manufacturing processes to processes that involved more intellectual work. The result has been increased productivity and lower human resource costs for manufacturers and the elimination of some categories […]

Only Humans Need Apply: Job Prospects Following Advances in AI

This post was authored primarily by CDT Summer 2016 intern Elaine Chou . “America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand.” Last week, in response to a Request for Information from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, CDT submitted a report on “Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence” (“AI”). Our comments focused on how the government can reduce inequality in the workforce and promote societal progress as AI advances. CDT believes in the power of AI, and suggests policy improvements […]