Tag: consumer

Advancements in technology today reminiscent of 1960s sci-fi films’ vision of the future

Advancements in technology today reminiscent of 1960s sci-fi films’ vision of the future

THE 1960s vision of the future had us all living on lunar plantations and flying to work in spaceships.

Productions like 2001: A Space Odyssey and even the Jetsons displayed the nerdy fascination with the yet-to-come that was so prevalent at the time. 10 Film still from Stanley Kubrick’s Space Odyssey: 2001 Most of it was escapism, and by and large people preferred to focus on getting by day to day and to let the future take care of itself.

But it wasn’t all about space and aliens. Sci-fi writers including Isaac Asimov and Arthur C Clarke dreamed up fantastical worlds […]

Zoe Clapp: AI will not replace us, it will allow us to focus on what matters

Zoe Clapp: AI will not replace us, it will allow us to focus on what matters

I visited the ‘Age of Amazement’ TED conference in Vancouver earlier this year. The conference sees influential thinkers and investors gather in Vancouver to speculate on the future and share thoughts on things that seem right at the edge of current possibility.

Speakers included Kai-Fu Lee, president of Google in China until 2009 and now a venture capitalist. Lee predicted half of all jobs worldwide will be “lost to AI” in the next decade. But he didn’t paint this as a jobs crisis. Instead he views it as a way to secure a better future where people enjoy rewarding jobs […]

How the left must respond to the real automation crisis

How the left must respond to the real automation crisis

One of the prevailing themes of our time is that the robots are coming for our jobs WAGES may be stagnant, conditions may be lousy, job security may be a thing of the past, but the one economic problem we seemingly don’t have right now is unemployment. Indeed, last year it was announced that Britain had its highest proportion of people in work since 1975. Nonetheless, one of the prevailing themes of our time is that the robots are coming for our jobs and that vast swathes of the population are about to be declared redundant.

There is more plausibility […]

Why Don’t American Teens Work Summer Jobs Anymore?

Why Don’t American Teens Work Summer Jobs Anymore?

The number of teenagers who work over summer break has plummeted dramatically over the past 20 years.

In the year 2000, over half of the teenagers in the United States worked some kind of summer job. Last summer, that number was down to 35 percent. According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, the number of teenagers working jobs over summer break has plummeted dramatically over the last 20 years, and it offers a relatively straightforward reason why: the jobs simply aren’t there. And when they are, teens either don’t want them or are getting beat […]

Don’t blame Harley-Davidson for making a smart business decision

Don't blame Harley-Davidson for making a smart business decision

I ride motorcycles. I’m partial to Harley-Davidson motorcycles because I’m from Wisconsin, home of the company’s headquarters, but also because I have fond memories of riding my Harley with many friends, when I was a member of Congress, during the annual Rolling Thunder event in Washington to honor military veterans.

I understand Harley-Davidson’s recent decision to move production of its motorcycles for sale in the European Union to plants outside the United States.

It wasn’t a surprise — that’s what just about any company would do when faced with a 25 percent tariff imposed by the E.U. in response to President […]

Double Your Money with the Best Artificial Intelligence Stock to Buy

Double Your Money with the Best Artificial Intelligence Stock to Buy

Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to change the way we do business, purchase products, and even get around. In fact, AI is already taking over from humans in industries from marketing to banking.

Just think about this. Self-parking cars were last year’s buzz, and now self- driving cars are already being tested. AI is not just for gamers anymore. But the concept is far from new.

ATMs, which allow us to bank remotely without any human intervention at all, now seem like ancient history.Robots already take our food orders at certain restaurants. This week, the first burger cooked and assembled by […]

Robots Run the Farm, but You Can Eat Only So Much

Robots Run the Farm, but You Can Eat Only So Much

Will robots cause the factory to go the way of the farm? Many economists seem to think so. “Rising levels of productivity benefit manufacturing,” declares a recent paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “but also naturally lead to declining employment—much as the agricultural sector has experienced declining employment and rising output in the twentieth century.” Since the end of World War II, technology has caused agriculture’s share of U.S. employment to drop from nearly 10% to just 1%.

This analysis misses a point that becomes obvious once you think about it: One can eat only so much. […]

Short of Workers, Fast-Food Restaurants Turn to Robots

Short of Workers, Fast-Food Restaurants Turn to Robots

Now Hiring

Job openings in hospitality, including restaurants, have increased since 2010 and account for more available positions than retail or manufacturing firms.

Note: Seasonally adjusted dataSource: Labor DepartmentExperts have warned for years that robots will replace humans in restaurants. Instead, a twist on that prediction is unfolding. Amid the lowest unemployment in years , fast-food restaurants are turning to machines—not to get rid of workers, but because they can’t find enough.The hospitality industry had 844,000 unfilled positions in April, a record high, according to the Labor Department. That accounts for about one out of every eight jobs available […]

Voice – The Interface Between Supply Chain Tech and Humans

Voice – The Interface Between Supply Chain Tech and Humans

It’s the era of the new consumer.

We must adapt supply chains rapidly to meet customer expectations. Trends like reverse logistics, same-day-delivery and mobility result in new business models, stressed logistics systems and deconsolidating networks. We’re also in the midst of a shrinking talent pool. Competing with rising wages and attractive employment alternatives for this generation is pivotal in landing the top talent.

How do we handle this? By evolving our operations with the tools and technologies of the automated and connected supply chain of the future. This means meeting the demands of the next-generation consumer and the tech-savvy worker with […]

Elon Musk: Free cash handouts ‘will be necessary’ if robots take humans’ jobs

Elon Musk: Free cash handouts ‘will be necessary’ if robots take humans' jobs

Billionaire tech titan Elon Musk has been tweeting quite a lot of late — about everything from his philosophical mentors ( Douglas Adams and Isaac Asimov ) to his political leanings (he’s a socialist).

But nearly lost in a flurry of tweets, Musk now says that universal basic income (UBI) — essentially, free cash handouts — "will be necessary over time if AI [artificial intelligence] takes over most human jobs."

That’s what Musk tweeted Friday in response to a question from a Twitter user who asked him if he supported UBI. Universal income will be necessary over time if AI takes […]