Tag: consumer

Will the pandemic speed up workplace automation?

Will the pandemic speed up workplace automation?

COVID-19 could hasten the move toward automation in some sectors. Photo: Amin Khorsand Subscribe to Newsletter

Take the example of small robots and drones that are now deployed in COVID-19 infected areas to check if residents are maintaining social distancing. This is a job that would be done typically by the police force or security services. In warehouses, robots are deployed in greater numbers than before. In the months ahead as countries re-open, we are likely to see more of these changes due to COVID-19. This is happening to adhere to the public health guidelines on social distancing.

Even before […]

No, the Pandemic Will Not Bring Jobs Back From China

No, the Pandemic Will Not Bring Jobs Back From China

No idea has been more central to U.S. President Donald Trump’s philosophy of “America first” than bringing jobs back home. In his 2017 inaugural address, he lamented that “one by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.” Under his presidency, a newly elected Trump promised, “we will bring back our jobs.”Lighthizer cast the pandemic as an overdue comeuppance for U.S. companies that had offshored production to lower-wage countries.

More than three years later and in the most unlikely of scenarios—a pandemic that has killed […]

36 Million Unemployed: How AI Can Create Jobs

36 Million Unemployed: How AI Can Create Jobs

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the transformative technology for this decade. With 36 million unemployed in US today, can AI also create jobs? The World Economic Forum in 2020 forecasted a strong increase in AI jobs globally over the next 2 years, with new jobs per 10,000 opportunities increasing from 78 today to 123 in 2022. World Economic Forum published research in Jan 2020, shows jobs in AI almost double by 2022. AI started with machines being programmed to give specific responses for certain questions. Siri could pull the weather report upon request. Machine learning is the new approach where […]

Why Our Economy May Be Headed for a Decade of Depression

Why Our Economy May Be Headed for a Decade of Depression

The worst is yet to come? Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images In September 2006, Nouriel Roubini told the International Monetary Fund what it didn’t want to hear. Standing before an audience of economists at the organization’s headquarters, the New York University professor warned that the U.S. housing market would soon collapse — and, quite possibly, bring the global financial system down with it. Real-estate values had been propped up by unsustainably shady lending practices, Roubini explained. Once those prices came back to earth, millions of underwater homeowners would default on their mortgages, trillions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities would […]

Watch: The Real Role of Robots in Fulfillment

Watch: The Real Role of Robots in Fulfillment

A robot is just a collection of metal, plastic and rubber. What matters are the tasks and applications that it’s given — and how it works alongside humans, says Guy Courtin, global alliances with 6 River Systems.

SCB: What’s the status of automation in the area of fulfillment right now?

Courtin: We’ve seen it in manufacturing. But when it comes to fulfillment, we’re really on the cusp of a major growth spurt for automation. If you look at everything that’s happening within the four walls of the warehouse, as well as in things like last-mile delivery and driverless […]

Amid COVID-19 and Social Distancing, Consumers Prefer Calling Customer Service, More Than Chatbots or Email

Data shows contact centers need AI and Automation to scale operations and provide better experiences for customers

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Uniphore , an early Conversational Service Automation category leader, today released survey results that show American consumers overwhelmingly prefer to use voice over every other medium when contacting a company’s contact center. The results underscore a growing need for innovative voice-enabled automation software and conversational artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities that can eliminate the need to put customers on hold. Further, advanced technology can also help businesses streamline the customer service experience by predicting […]

Robots Might Actually Take Over The World Post Coronavirus

Robots Might Actually Take Over The World Post Coronavirus

Although many firms might not survive to see the light of day post coronavirus, there’s still hope as we might be stepping into a new era of automation. As per experts, millions are jobless and intelligent automation has managed to fill those voids. However, it’s still debatable whether AI has taken over those jobs for good. It’s a known fact that automation across industries was on the horizon, now it might just happen before expected.

The ongoing situation has already showcased the need for a digital overhaul across several sectors and how firms should make use of this time to […]

Chinese Communist Party virus pushes American innovation and automation

Chinese Communist Party virus pushes American innovation and automation

Illustration on some unexpected benefits of the pandemic by Alexander Hunter/The Washington Times more > ANALYSIS/OPINION:

The Chinese Communist Party virus (aka COVID-19) is forcing people to be innovative — and many will be constructively creative. From the rise of the Internet, workers and consumers are becoming increasingly untethered from a physical location to work or shop. This trend is now in forced acceleration.

Each day, more and more employers and employees are realizing that they can get by perfectly well without everyone being in the same physical workplace for the entire day or week, or even month. Go through […]

Gone in plain sight

Gone in plain sight

May 10, 2020 at 7:43 PM

Today’s front-line superheroes wear scrubs, delivery uniforms and butchers’ aprons. Police officers and firefighters continue to respond first, to our most urgent emergencies. Grocery store workers, utility workers, and trash collectors are taken for granted no more.

The world economy has never shut down this fast. Within a matter of weeks, the lethal effects of the coronavirus have literally brought America to a halt. Isolated Pennsylvanians are discovering new employment terms.Who are “essential” and who are not? The jobless rate precipitously grows daily. Following the stock market should now come with a health warning. […]

Survey finds coronavirus changing consumer comfort with AI, robots, and self-driving cars

Survey finds coronavirus changing consumer comfort with AI, robots, and self-driving cars

Boston Dynamics equipped Spot with an iPad and two-way radio to act as a remote connection between doctors and COVID-10 patients. | Credit: Boston Dynamics The COVID-19 pandemic has affected every aspect of life for people around the world, but reactions have varied in terms of individual behavior, governmental policies, and attitudes toward technology. As the debate continues over whether or not automation will replace employment, a new survey found more reason for hope in a future where societies can benefit from robotics and artificial intelligence.

Interactions LLC surveyed 1,000 people across the U.S. and found that consumer sentiment […]