Tag: consumer

The robots are here, but creativity can fend them off

The robots are here, but creativity can fend them off

There’s no doubt data and artificial intelligence are changing the face of employment. According to a recent study, 45% of American jobs are at risk of being automated within 20 years.

For evidence, look no further than the autonomous vehicle — a technology we already see on our roads. Is it implausible to imagine a world without taxi and ride-sharing drivers, truck and delivery drivers, or ship and airline captains?

Few debate the impact that analytics, machine learning and related technologies will have on nearly every facet of our economy and, as a result, the way we work. Many argue the […]

Labour pains: our rapidly changing workplace

Labour pains: our rapidly changing workplace

While Australian manufacturing never fully recovered from that tumult, the US, at least, had Apple and Microsoft leading the charge as its manufacturing base atrophied, with “Silicon Valley” now a byword for the digital economy. Australia continued, largely, to live off the back of a mining boom driven by China’s historic economic expansion, while investment in innovation lagged, and today is half that of countries like the US and Germany.

We hear a lot about the jobs of the future, usually from American media outlets gushing out a range of blue-sky predictions. What’s the next big thing? What will […]

‘Wealth work’ captures only part of the stark jobs divide

‘Wealth work’ captures only part of the stark jobs divide

The Digital Gilded Age would seem to be producing its own version of “the help” that tended to the wealthy during the American Gilded Age of the late 19th century, or the estates of Britain at the Empire’s zenith.

Think of it as Downton Abbey without the snazzy period costumes, or getting to live in the baronial manor, or having paternalistic aristocrats occasionally reward the loyalty of those “in service.”

That, at least, is the impression one might get from a recent story by Christopher Rugaber of The Associated Press.“One of the fastest-growing job categories of the past decade has been […]

Despite Job Losses, U.S. Benefitted from Surge of Trade with China

Despite Job Losses, U.S. Benefitted from Surge of Trade with China

Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images In 2000, the U.S. Congress granted Permanent Normal Trade Relations to China, and China joined the World Trade Organization. Over the next seven years, Chinese imports to the United States more than doubled, with notable increases in electronics, textiles, machinery, and furniture. During that period, manufacturing employment in the United States dropped sharply, and research has linked those job losses to increased imports from China.

But the job losses in manufacturing don’t tell the whole story. Ripple effects on other sectors—some of them positive—have received less attention.

While trade is generally thought to bring benefits, “those […]

FACE IT: Jobs, Part 3 – The Possible Solutions

FACE IT: Jobs, Part 3 – The Possible Solutions

Clockwise from bottom left–London Free Press journalists Randy Richmond, Megan Stacey and Max Martin discuss the city’s employment situation with panelists Amanda Wilcox, Carol Stewart, Sue Wilson and Don Kerr in London, Ont. on Wednesday July 24, 2019. Derek Ruttan/The London Free Press/Postmedia Network You told us in a reader poll for last fall’s civic election what were London’s most pressing issues. While we debated bus rapid transit and political leadership vacuums, the other – and more lasting – ones didn’t get what they deserved. This series about employment is the first of three, followed by a series on […]

What Andrew Yang Gets Wrong (and Right) About Robots

What Andrew Yang Gets Wrong (and Right) About Robots

Robots will not replace us. Every Democrat on the debate stage in Detroit Wednesday night argued that America is enmeshed in some kind of crisis. But while plenty of candidates attributed our civic emergency to a warming climate, or racist president, or extractive economic elite, only Andrew Yang cast automation as the one true enemy of the people.

In the entrepreneur’s telling, advances in robotics, software, and artificial intelligence are replacing the need for human labor at such a rapid pace, they could condemn one-third of all American workers to “permanent unemployment” within the next decade ( and this time, […]

Mazda Takes Driver’s Seat Aboard The Struggle Bus

Mazda Takes Driver's Seat Aboard The Struggle Bus

Photo: AP The Morning Shift Hard times continue for automakers across the world, BMW CEO asks Boris Johnson to not screw up Brexit, and hackers are going to ruin cars. All this and more in The Morning Shift of Thursday, August 1, 2019. 1st Gear: Mazda Out-Struggles All The Other Struggling Automakers

If you’ve been reading this website at all over the last, oh, I don’t know, eight months or so, then you know the cars are not doing so hot . Back in May, Mazda announced i ts operating profit slumped 43 percent in the latest fiscal year, […]

Growing PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2019 rolls out new features

Growing PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2019 rolls out new features

“We are excited to unveil our new show features that will add even more value for the industry professionals making the trip to attend,” says Laura Thompson, VP, trade shows, PMMI. “We are constantly looking for ways to improve the attendee experience and provide access to the latest industry trends and thought leaders, and maximize the networking at the show. What better way than offering more on-floor experiences and education to maximize time spent at the show.”

Robotics Zone
Innovation in automation is driving rapid developments in robotics. This year, PMMI dedicated an entire zone in the North […]

Like previous technological innovation, AI and automation promises increased productivity, higher wages, and even longer lifespans for everyone. But gaining this potential will require development and diffusion of these technologies carefully

Like previous technological innovation, AI and automation promises increased productivity, higher wages, and even longer lifespans for everyone. But gaining this potential will require development and diffusion of these technologies carefully

By Christopher Pissarides and Jacques Bughin

Public discussion of the effects of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) often focuses on the productivity benefits for companies and the economy, on the one hand, and on the potential downside for workers, on the other. Yet there is a critical third dimension that should not be overlooked: the impact of new technologies on wellbeing.

Historically, technological innovation has had positive effects on wellbeing extending far beyond what is captured by standard economic metrics such as GDP. Vaccinations, new pharmaceuticals, and medical innovations such as X-rays and MRIs have vastly improved human health and […]

The Biggest Challenges Facing Robots

The Biggest Challenges Facing Robots

When you think of bringing robots hitting the consumer market, you’re probably inundated with images of machines that clean your house, walk your dog, or, in more nefarious cases, build an army to enslave humankind. Despite predictions and projections of robots walking among us, the truth is we still have a long way to go before we can relinquish our mundane day-to-day tasks to a pile of circuits. Below are some of the main challenges facing modern-day robotics and what needs to happen before these mechanical helpers can walk among us. The Human “Swap”

Outside of the physical and […]