Tag: consumer

US Machine Production Gains Competitive Edge

US Machine Production Gains Competitive Edge

By Mark Howard, US Country Manager, EU Automation

Surpassing all expectations, the Federal Reserve announced a rise in the US manufacturing production index of 0.5 per cent in August 2019. This development allows us to reconsider our understanding of the American manufacturing industry in comparison with Asian competitors. This article discusses the potential long term upswing of US manufacturing and how to achieve it.

In 2018 the Brooking Institute found that 20 per cent of global manufacturing came from China, with the US coming in a close second with 18 per cent. This classification has remained entrenched in the world […]

Is AI an agent of big tech hegemony or multi-disciplinary research and innovation?

Is AI an agent of big tech hegemony or multi-disciplinary research and innovation?

Summary: A recent New York Times article focused on fears of a big tech monopoly over AI technology and research. Severe debunkery ensues… A recent New York Times article fretting about the soaring costs of developing and training leading-edge deep learning models and my admittedly provocative Tweet questioning the premise and motives of the article’s sources led to the type of online banter that indicates a nuanced question ill-suited for pithy Twitter responses.

Fears of AI creating a chasm between haves and have-nots are common, however the topic of AI-fueled inequality typically centers on its economic effects, namely that the […]

‘Goliath Is Winning’: The Biggest U.S. Banks Are Set to Automate Away 200,000 Jobs

'Goliath Is Winning': The Biggest U.S. Banks Are Set to Automate Away 200,000 Jobs

Over the next decade, U.S. banks, which are investing $150 billion in technology annually, will use automation to eliminate 200,000 jobs , thus facilitating “the greatest transfer from labor to capital” in the industry’s history. The call is coming from inside the house this time, too—both the projection and the quote come from a recent Wells Fargo report, whose lead author, Mike Mayo, told the Financial Times that he expects the industry to shed 10 percent of all of its jobs.

This, Mayo said, will lay the groundwork for, and I quote, “a golden age of banking efficiency.” The job […]

The Robots Are Not Coming

The Robots Are Not Coming

(Image by Kai Schreiber / CC) If you follow technology, you could be forgiven for believing that humanity is standing the precipice of a robot apocalypse. It’s only a matter of time before automation eliminates so many jobs that humans will simply no longer be “needed.” Right?

Five years back, YouTuber CGP Grey made this case in his popular Humans Need Not Apply video. Since then, the labor market has not been transforming in the way that Grey had imagined. What gives?

In 2015, MIT economist David Autor published an essay entitled Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History […]

Automation Could Drastically Change The Landscape Of Labor. But Who Loses In An Increasingly High-Tech World?

Automation Could Drastically Change The Landscape Of Labor. But Who Loses In An Increasingly High-Tech World?

Automobile production. Shutterstock While automation can lead to higher productivity and cheaper prices for consumers, its emergence poses a risk for a significant portion of the U.S. labor force, studies found.

The working class — including individuals employed in the production, food service, and transportation industries — are at greater risk of losing their jobs to automation than others who are working in fields that require more education.

One study by the Brookings Institution found that, while automation won’t lead to a “job apocalypse,” it could spell trouble for working class Americans who perform monotonous jobs. […]

High-tech jobs will be created

High-tech jobs will be created

In 1801, Jacquard Loom invented a steel punch card system to control thread-dispensing shuttles, allowing multicolored, patterned textiles to be produced without the constant attention of human weavers. It was the birth of automation and the start of a tense relationship between worker and machine that continues to this day.

Mechanization of the apparel and other industries followed, making craft jobs obsolete while creating new ones requiring little skill. Philosopher Karl Marx described the change as “alienation of labor,” because it deprived workers of the satisfaction of creating a complete product and instead made them “cogs” in production machines. His […]

Robots could replace loan officers in the future

Robots could replace loan officers in the future

(Chart by the Orange County Register/SCNG) What’s up with mortgage rates? Jeff Lazerson of Mortgage Grader in Laguna Niguel gives us his take.

Rate news summary

From Freddie Mac’s weekly survey: The 30-year fixed rate averaged 3.64%, down 9 basis points from last week. The 15-year fixed rate averaged 3.16%, down 5 basis points from last week.The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 10.1% decrease in loan application volume from the previous week. Bottom line: Assuming a borrower gets the average 30-year fixed rate on a conforming $484,350 loan, last year’s payment was a stunning $305 higher than this week’s […]

The World Needs a Digital Blue-Collar Workforce

The World Needs a Digital Blue-Collar Workforce

Credit: Hero Images/Getty Images A.I. and automation continue to take ground, populist concern is growing that these new technologies will replace the effort of their human counterparts, and with it, the workers’ livelihood. Of course, this is nothing new. Gutenberg’s printing press revolutionized the distribution of ideas and slowly sidelined calligraphy — first to the category of an art form and then to a peculiar hobby. Textiles fell to the machine in the 18th century before Henry Ford’s assembly line organized workers for mass production, only to slowly replace them with robots.

Behind all growth marches gradual innovations that increase […]

Automation to Create More Jobs for Indonesia Than It Destroys by 2030: McKinsey

Automation to Create More Jobs for Indonesia Than It Destroys by 2030: McKinsey

Phillia Wibowo, the president director of McKinsey Indonesia, said Indonesia is poised to create two times more new jobs from automation than it loses. (Photo courtesy of McKinsey Indonesia) Jakarta . Indonesian workforce could end up seeing more jobs available to them – mainly in the service sector – should the government and corporate sectors manage the adoption of automation and artificial intelligence well over the next decade, a new report by global consulting company McKinsey said.

Automation in the largest economy in Southeast Asia is projected to destroy up to 23 million jobs and create between 27 to 46 […]

How automation and artificial intelligence will affect your job

How automation and artificial intelligence will affect your job

Play Video Jobs of the future

(Source: The Daily Edition) We’ve long heard that robots are set to take over our jobs, but now new research has revealed which careers are actually at risk. Credit: Getty Images Stock We’ve long heard that robots are set to take over our jobs, but now new research has revealed which careers are actually at risk and which are future-proof – and they’re not necessarily the jobs you would think.

Over the next five years, it’s being predicted that more than 13,500 fewer secretaries will be hired – and sales assistants are also declining fast […]