Tag: consumption

Coffee and Contemplation: Could Universal Basic Income bridge divide between man and machine?

Coffee and Contemplation: Could Universal Basic Income bridge divide between man and machine?

Last week we talked about AI and its inevitable impact on the lifestyles and employment of people in the workforce. You can argue reasonably I think about how much impact AI and automation is going to have. Some think it’s more, some think its less.

Some think that it will be a net gain of zero, with new types of jobs being created to fill the vacuum left by those lost to automation. I’m sure the horse thought the same thing about that new car thing a century ago.

For the sake of argument, however, let’s say the horse is wrong.Let’s […]

Automation: Benefits and Employment

Automation is a force beyond our comprehension and will have a global impact like nothing else we have ever seen. This is not to say that it is altogether a new idea. Decades ago, science minded dreamers from around the globe would paint philosophical dreamscapes that portrayed a world built on the backs of human ingenuity.

Starting in the early 20th century, automation introduced itself to the world in the form of massive materials factories that could speed up the productivity of workers and create form perfect products for mass consumption. These behemoths of the old world have become standard […]

Japan urges companies to invest more in their workers

Japan urges companies to invest more in their workers

Workers who lack the skills to help shape the digital future risk having their jobs automated. © Reuters TOKYO — Japanese employers and employees will have to work together to improve workers’ skills or risk being left behind by the digital revolution, according to the upcoming Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance 2018.

Japan’s Cabinet Office is finalizing the report and could release it this month.

A draft of the report seen by Nikkei stresses the impact that the digital revolution is having on Japan’s labor force. Saying further economic growth rests on workers becoming more digitally literate, […]

Missing in the future of jobs debate: the elasticity of human needs

Missing in the future of jobs debate: the elasticity of human needs

There is a lot of debate on whether Industry 4.0 with a strong underpinning of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning is going to result in large-scale unemployment. This seems a bit odd because neither technology nor automation is a 21st-century phenomenon! They are as old as humanity itself, and if this appears an exaggeration, then they are at least as old as the industrial revolution at least.

The battle between man and machines goes back centuries. At one point of time, the worry was what would happen if spinning machines replaced weavers and if steam engines took the place […]

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. […]

Are we edging towards a ‘universal basic income’? Tesla boss Elon Musk says cash handouts from governments ‘will be necessary’ as AI takes over human jobs

Are we edging towards a 'universal basic income'? Tesla boss Elon Musk says cash handouts from governments 'will be necessary' as AI takes over human jobs

Billionaire Elon Musk has said cash handouts ‘will be necessary’ if robots take human jobs, in his latest flurry of tweets.

Musk made the comment in response to a question from a Twitter user about whether he supported universal basic income (UBI) – a cash handout that could be given to people irrespective of their employment.

Musk believes UBI could be a possible solution for unemployment caused by machines taking over the workforce.Scroll down for video Billionaire Elon Musk has said cash handouts ‘will be necessary’ if robots take human jobs, in his latest flurry of tweets Billionaire Elon Musk has […]

Are we edging towards a ‘universal basic income’? Tesla boss Elon Musk says cash handouts from governments ‘will be necessary’ as AI takes over human jobs

Are we edging towards a 'universal basic income'? Tesla boss Elon Musk says cash handouts from governments 'will be necessary' as AI takes over human jobs

Billionaire Elon Musk has said cash handouts ‘will be necessary’ if robots take human jobs, in his latest flurry of tweets.

Musk made the comment in response to a question from a Twitter user about whether he supported universal basic income (UBI) – a cash handout that could be given to people irrespective of their employment.

Musk believes UBI could be a possible solution for unemployment caused by machines taking over the workforce.Scroll down for video Billionaire Elon Musk has said cash handouts ‘will be necessary’ if robots take human jobs, in his latest flurry of tweets Billionaire Elon Musk has […]

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 […]

Accuracy through automation

Accuracy through automation

Open your hand. Do you see it there? Sitting snugly in the crook of your palm is a combination of two delicious chocolate wafers with a terribly sweet cream filling sandwiched in between. You pinch the delightful concoction between two fingers and read the letters across the middle: O-R-E-O. Then you notice another in your other hand. There’s another on the table in front of you next to a tall glass of milk. Next to that glass is the rest of the package. Go on, treat yourself.

Since 1912, the Oreo has been a staple of our snack food consumption. […]

Staying on top of the robots

Staying on top of the robots

Lee Jong-wha
*The author, a former chief economist at the Asian Development Bank, is a professor of economics at Korea University.

South Korea topped the list for concentration of industrial robots in the manufacturing industry in 2016, with 631 multipurpose robots for every 10,000 workers. This far outpaced the worldwide average concentration of working robots, which was just 69. As the role of robotics and artificial intelligence in our everyday lives grows, so does concern about the future job opportunities for human workers.
Recent advances in computing and IT and the acceleration of automation are believed to contribute to rises […]