Tag: employment

Something like half of all jobs will likely be lost to automation in the next 20 years

Something like half of all jobs will likely be lost to automation in the next 20 years

Back to Topics Mr. Demiurge Bigwig Joined: Aug 2003 Posts: 61667 So sayeth many a science article, but this one will do.

The Future of Employment

Given the number of libertarian-leaning people that float around this board, I’m curious: from your perspective, what do you think the proper response will be to a world in which an ever increasing number of people will no longer have anything to contribute to the economy that an AI can’t do better and cheaper? Take a guess, Luddite. So sayeth many a science article, but this one will do. The Future of Employment […]

Are we headed for robot takeover?

Are we headed for robot takeover?

Buy Photo Given advances in artificial intelligence, some have suggested that robots are likely to have a very negative impact on our jobs and that we are headed toward a gloomy future. The most dystopian view has been proffered by Martin Ford in his book The Rise of the Robots . Given this concern about massive future unemployment, it is important to scrutinize the claims made by Ford and other likeminded authors.

Ford points out that we can now design affordable machines that have an almost human-level ability to interact with their environment. Therefore, online retailers such as Amazon and […]

The 3 Ways Work Can Be Automated

The 3 Ways Work Can Be Automated

We are at an interesting tipping point regarding how and where work gets done. As business leaders and managers, we have become increasingly capable of engaging a workforce that is some combination of virtual and on site, part time and full time, permanent and contingent. But just when we’ve sorted out preferred management routines, there is an entirely new landscape emerging with technology options central to the work and possibly your business model: work automation. How, when, and where should leaders be thinking about applying the various automation technologies to their businesses?

There are currently three technological enablers of work […]

Clinton is wrong. You shouldn’t have to work to have a place in America.

Clinton is wrong. You shouldn’t have to work to have a place in America.

Hillary Clinton tours a factory during a campaign stop. (Chris Keane/Reuters) It is only because of audience member Ken Bone’s question about the effect that energy policy would have on employment at power plants that the presidential candidates addressed jobs at all during their debate Sunday night. But the night’s biggest statement about work didn’t come in response to Bone.

It came instead as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton answered a question about Islamophobia. She said, “My vision of America is an America where everyone has a place, if you are willing to work hard, do your part and you contribute […]

Will the ‘Rise of the Machines’ Require a Unique Human Response?

Will the ‘Rise of the Machines’ Require a Unique Human Response?

Automation anxieties have accelerated in recent years, as our increasingly smart machines are now being applied to activities requiring cognitive, physical and social capabilities that not long ago were viewed as the exclusive domain of humans. Concerns surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) and its long-term impact may well be in a class by themselves. Like no other technology, AI forces us to explore the very boundaries between machines and humans.

Few topics are as important as the future of work in our 21st century digital economy, given our justifiable anxieties about technological unemployment . “The economic challenge of the future will […]

Will jobs exist in 2050?

Will jobs exist in 2050?

As we develop artificial intelligence, what will happen to future jobs? Photograph: KTS Design/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF There’s no question that technology is drastically changing the way we work, but what will the job market look like by 2050? Will 40% of roles have been lost to automation – as predicted by Oxford university economists Dr Carl Frey and Dr Michael Osborne – or will there still be jobs even if the nature of work is exceptionally different from today? To address these issues, the Guardian hosted a roundtable discussion, in association with professional services firm Deloitte, which […]

The Great Unravelling: How Digitalisation will change Society

The Great Unravelling: How Digitalisation will change Society

The digitalisation of industry is a revolution. It will accelerate innovation and drive productivity. It heralds a new era and promises a future of smart manufacturing, customised products and increased coordination between supply and demand.

Some, however, are more cautious about the whole thing. While the Commission presented its strategy to digitise industry and, in essence, support the automation of production, Commissioner for Employment Marianne Thyssen stated that the industrial transition towards a digital revolution entails a “fundamental transformation of the world of work.” How she sees this transformation exactly is not clear. But her statement seems to indicate an […]

How the Gig Economy Profits off Desperation

How the Gig Economy Profits off Desperation

Illustration by Laurent Hrybyk “Children are running the company [Homejoy] and they act like they are still in college. The poor cleaners are being treated like slaves; the children make fun of them behind their backs; this company is a tax-evader and a moral concern to the working class.” While the gig economy promises to free workers from the traditional, drab 9-to-5 work environment, the reality is quite different. Many contractors employed in gig economy–type jobs lack health care and retirement benefits, are at the mercy of their employers’ scheduling needs, and — despite being promised so much freedom […]

Obama warns of the danger of AI wiping out jobs

Obama warns of the danger of AI wiping out jobs

Technology is replacing jobs. Are you ready? President Obama joined a chorus of those warning of the potential downsides of artificial intelligence.

In an interview with Wired Magazine , Obama spoke of redesigning the social compact and starting a conversation around fair wages. He cited teachers as being underpaid, and called for a reexamination of what we value, and what we’ll pay for.

Obama addressed basic income, a proposal for all citizens to receive a government stipend in order to meet their costs of living. The idea has gained recent support among some futurists and economists, given concerns over how […]

Drones Can Deliver Burritos, Blood Supplies — and Bombs

Drones Can Deliver Burritos, Blood Supplies — and Bombs

Arbitragery | Flickr ISIS turns toy drones into killing machines. On the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, ISIS is using hobbyist drones — the kind you can buy on Amazon — to send explosive devices behind enemy lines. Last week they used one to kill two Kurdish fighters ( The Washington Post) . The development is hardly a surprise; from the smelting of bronze to the splitting of atoms, humanity has always turned its technological breakthroughs into war-fighting tools. The U.S., of course, has been deploying relatively large killer drones for a decade. Now we’re seeing this type of […]