Tag: inequality

The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Employment

Introduction: In the last few decades, rapid advancements in technology, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), have brought about significant changes in various aspects of our lives. One of the key concerns that arise with the increasing integration of AI is its impact on employment. The widespread adoption of automation and intelligent machines has sparked debates about the future of work and the potential displacement of human workers. This essay explores the implications of AI on employment, examining both the potential challenges and opportunities it presents. The Challenges of AI on Employment: The rise of AI technology […]

Should Robots Pay Taxes? Tax Policy in the Age of Automation

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Abstract: Existing technologies can already automate most work functions, and the cost of these technologies is decreasing at a time when human labor costs are increasing. This, combined with ongoing advances in computing, artificial intelligence, and robotics, has led experts to predict that automation will lead to significant job losses and worsening income inequality. Policy makers are actively debating how to deal with these problems, with most proposals focusing on investing in education to train workers in new job types, or investing in social benefits to distribute the gains of automation. The importance of tax policy has […]

Technological development: valuing labour

Technological development: valuing labour

Technological innovation at work should be thought of in terms of supporting labour, not supplanting it. Technology at work needs to be an arm of labour, not a substitute for it (PaO_STUDIO/shutterstock.com) Ever since the days of Adam Smith, economic science has taught that technological development always benefits the overall productivity of the economy, leading to automatic increases in wages and improved working conditions. This conventional wisdom is however challenged in a new book, Power and Progress , by two of the world’s leading economists, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson.

Drawing on a millennium-long […]

lump of labor fallacy

What did Kurt Vonnegut, the novelist, and François Mitterand, the socialist president of France from 1981 to 1995, have in common with Donald Trump? Both, at some point, believed in what economists call the . This is the view that there is a fixed amount of work to be done and that if someone or something — some group of workers or some kind of machine — is doing some of that work, that means fewer jobs for everyone else.

And Trump clearly shares that belief. As I noted in my most recent column , it underlies his hostility to […]

Should workers be concerned about AI?

Should workers be concerned about AI?

EXPLAINER: Executives recommend an open mindset to adapt to new technologies Roughly 40% of global employment is exposed to artificial intelligence, according to a new analysis by the IMF. Should local organisations and employees be concerned jobs are going to be replaced by artificial intelligence (AI) as it is adopted around the globe?

Executives in the technology, manufacturing and job recruitment fields indicate the impact is unavoidable and people as well as organisations should prepare to deal with the consequences.

According to a blog post by International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Kristalina Georgieva on Jan 14, AI will affect almost 40% […]

UPS cuts 12,000 jobs: The ruling class accelerates its policy of mass unemployment

United Parcel Service announced Wednesday that it is firing 12,000 salaried workers—14 percent of its worldwide managerial staff—as part of a $1 billion cost-cutting plan. The mass layoffs by the logistics giant, which will go into effect in the first half of this year, are part of an accelerating global wave of job-cutting in auto, technology and other industries.

In a conference call with investors, UPS CEO Carol B. Tomé boasted that her executive team had slashed the company’s worldwide workforce from 540,000, when “COVID demand peaked,” to 495,000 today. Even if volume increased, she said, the managers would not […]

How is technology changing the world today?

How is technology changing the world today?

How is technology changing the world today?

Apleetech

· Follow 8 min read·Just now– Introduction How is technology changing the world today? Technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives in the 21st century, from how we work, play, and communicate to how we learn, shop, and receive healthcare. As new technologies continue to emerge, they bring both opportunities and challenges that impact individuals, businesses, and society as a whole. This article explores some of the key ways that technology is changing the modern world across different facets of life. While technological advances provide many benefits, there […]

How will automation affect the way people vote?

How will automation affect the way people vote?

Automation is expected to have an impact on the way people vote. Higher exposure to robot adoption has been found to increase support for nationalist and radical-right parties [1] . It also leads to poorer perceived economic conditions and well-being, lower satisfaction with the government and democracy, and a reduction in perceived political self-efficacy [2] . However, the effects of automation on policy preferences and voting patterns may differ for women. Women may be less affected by automation risks due to other long-standing risks they face and the types of occupations they enter [3] . Therefore, automation risk may […]

People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before.

People are worried that AI will take everyone’s jobs. We’ve been here before.

Stephanie Arnett/MITTR MIT Technology Review is celebrating our 125th anniversary with an online series that draws lessons for the future from our past coverage of technology.

It was 1938, and the pain of the Great Depression was still very real. Unemployment in the US was around 20%. Everyone was worried about jobs.

In 1930, the prominent British economist John Maynard Keynes had warned that we were “being afflicted with a new disease” called technological unemployment. Labor-saving advances, he wrote , were “outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses for labour.” There seemed to be examples everywhere. New […]

AI costs too much to automate vision-related jobs – for now

AI costs too much to automate vision-related jobs – for now

Today’s AI computer vision costs are too steep for most US firms to consider replacing human workers with the technology. But that could change in the long run

22 January 2024 AI has impressive powers but it is still an expensive option for some tasks Artificial intelligence may be coming for many people’s jobs according to some Fortune 500 CEOs and Silicon Valley leaders – but AI computer vision technologies are not yet cheap enough to make them worthwhile for most US businesses today. The finding comes from a study of human work – specifically tasks involving vision – that […]