Tag: inequality

Why American jobs have a higher risk of automation than jobs in Germany, the UK, and Japan

Why American jobs have a higher risk of automation than jobs in Germany, the UK, and Japan

You’ve been warned before—robots are coming for your job. The speed of technological advancement, particularly in smart automation, has sprung countless economic studies and political warnings about how many people are likely to lose their jobs to this rise of the machines. But it’s not an easy number to peg down; estimates range from 5% to 50%.

The latest predictions from PricewaterhouseCoopers (pdf) survey the damage for specific countries. Analysts at the consulting firm said that by the early 2030s, 38% of US jobs are at a high risk of automation, more than in Germany, the UK, and Japan.

PwC revisited […]

30% of UK jobs could be affected by automation

30% of UK jobs could be affected by automation

Up to around 30% of existing UK jobs could face automation over the next 15 years, but new AI-related technologies will also boost productivity and generate additional jobs elsewhere in the economy, according to new analysis by PwC in its latest UK Economic Outlook report. This involves looking in detail at the task composition of jobs in different industry sectors and occupations, using machine learning techniques to model the potential impact of AI in the future based on OECD data.

The study estimates that the UK (30%) has a lower proportion of existing jobs at potential high risk of automation […]

Around 10 million workers are at risk of seeing their jobs taken over by robots over the next 15 years, according to a new report.

Around 10 million workers are at risk of seeing their jobs taken over by robots over the next 15 years, according to a new report.

Robots and new technology could remove some of the monotony from jobs, according to new research Around 10 million workers are at risk of seeing their jobs taken over by robots over the next 15 years, according to a new report.

But the research from PwC said new artificial intelligence (AI) related technologies would also boost productivity and generate additional jobs elsewhere in the economy.

The report said up to around 30% of existing UK jobs were susceptible to automation by the 2030s.Sectors such as transport and manufacturing were at the biggest risk with half of jobs at "potential high risk" […]

Millions of UK workers at risk of being replaced by robots, study says

Millions of UK workers at risk of being replaced by robots, study says

More than 10 million UK workers are at high risk of being replaced by robots within 15 years as the automation of routine tasks gathers pace in a new machine age.

A report by the consultancy firm PwC found that 30% of jobs in Britain were potentially under threat from breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI). In some sectors half the jobs could go.

The report predicted that automation would boost productivity and create fresh job opportunities, but it said action was needed to prevent the widening of inequality that would result from robots increasingly being used for low-skill tasks.PwC said 2.25 […]

The Threat of Artificial Intelligence

The Threat of Artificial Intelligence

By: Cristobal Mora

Today, Artificial intelligence (AI) is a controversial topic and often regarded with great impact to the future of humankind. There are assumptions that that AI will be great for humanity by improving production tasks, health care services and the justice system. However, AI has serious negative impacts toward humankind. Some of the most respected leaders of academia and industry have vocalized the dangers of AI being that of taking away jobs, its ethical implications and regulation standards. Nevertheless, the technology continues to be developed and incorporated into society but at what point does AI stop benefiting […]

How inevitable is the AI takeover of jobs? And where does UBI fit in?

How inevitable is the AI takeover of jobs? And where does UBI fit in?

KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE — Inside a giant warehouse that’s bigger than 4 football fields put together, humans unpack boxes from containers before shuttling them onto a series of robotized conveyor belts. The low rhythmic grunts of people working alongside the hum of machines fill this massive space. It’s just another day at Red Stag Fulfilment , a logistics company that specializes in ecommerce fulfillment and employs around 60 full-time and contract workers who inventory and ship everything imaginable to locations around the USA and worldwide.

In 2027, the idea of humans working alongside intelligent machines might seem like a quaint, even […]

Fixing US corporate taxes with a heavy dose of American jobs

Fixing US corporate taxes with a heavy dose of American jobs

Photo: Kurtis Garbutt via Flickr A common bipartisan refrain in Washington these days is that the US corporate tax system is broken. However, Republicans and Democrats can’t seem to agree on how to fix it.

Scott A. Shay , the chairman and co-founder of Signature Bank – a Wall Street Bank that serves the needs of privately owned business clients – has a unique and compelling idea for getting the US out of this tax morass.

Shay notes that none of the proposals to overhaul corporate taxes addresses the two major problems facing Americans and their economy — offshoring and […]

Experts debate technology’s impact on job losses

Experts debate technology's impact on job losses

The question seems obvious based on what we read, see and hear almost daily in modern pop culture.

However, according to James Bessen, a law professor at Boston University, that assumption may not be correct.

“I look at detailed occupations since 1980 to explore whether computers are related to job losses or other sources of wage inequality,” Bessen writes in the abstract of his paper. “Occupations that use computers grow faster, not slower. This is true even for highly routine and mid-wage occupations. Estimates reject computer automation as a source of significant overall job losses.”People are confusing automating a task with […]

An automated world is coming and managing the unemployment fallout won’t be easy

An automated world is coming and managing the unemployment fallout won't be easy

One of the more striking things about economic debate in this country is that there is a broad call for “more reform” and yet an equally narrow view of what such reform should constitute.

Economic reform is often synonymous with reducing labour costs and increasing after-tax profit, because much of the debate is generated by those whose view of the world and position in life is benefitted by such outcomes. But many of these styles of reform are most suited to an economy that might be passing us by – one where output is greatly disconnected from employment.

While watching the […]

How to survive the robot-fueled jobs apocalypse

How to survive the robot-fueled jobs apocalypse

Credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch If rumors that James Cameron is interested in picking up Terminator 6 prove true, perhaps Bill Gates will be in the running for a cameo.

Gates recently cautioned that robots are replacing humans in a wide range of jobs, and he proposed implementing a robot tax as a way to temporarily slow the spread of automation. He was promptly — and predictably — trashed by a bevy of economists . [ Roundup: TensorFlow, Spark MLlib, Scikit-learn, MXNet, Microsoft Cognitive Toolkit, and Caffe machine learning and deep learning frameworks. | Get a digest of the day’s top tech […]