Tag: inequality

Mechanization, Automation and the Labor Market

Abstract

What is the future of human work? Will robots take all our jobs? The hardware–software framework organizes the past evidence on long-run employment trends and offers interesting predictions for the future. The key dichotomy present in the framework underscores that very different implications should be expected whether machines replace human brawn (hardware) or brains (software), i.e., whether we are discussing mechanization of physical tasks or automation of cognitive tasks. Given that modern production processes are highly complex, it is also important whether automation is partial or full. Under partial automation, essential non-automated cognitive tasks are becoming scarce, boosting […]

America’s Critical Challenges Pose Serious Risks to Its Future

America’s Critical Challenges Pose Serious Risks to Its Future

Creative american flag with forex chart on blurry background. USA economy and dollar concept. Double exposure © Golden Dayz / shutterstock.com Today’s most critical challenges are impacting every American. These include the direction of globalization and Chinese relations, shifting demographics and labor shortages, and rising inequality and threats to American capitalism. Understanding these challenges, the risks they pose, and how to adapt will be necessary to survive and thrive in the years ahead.

Like falling dominoes, many of these challenges impact each other. For example, the key to America’s vibrant system of free-market capitalism lies in our ability to innovate […]

Delivering the US manufacturing renaissance

US manufacturing may be poised for an overhaul and a rebound, with a potentially significant impact on the nation’s overall economy. In the United States, manufacturing accounts for $2.3 trillion in GDP, employs 12 million people, and supports hundreds of local economies. Although that represents just 11 percent of US GDP and 8 percent of direct employment, the sector makes a disproportionate economic contribution, including 20 percent of the nation’s capital investment, 35 percent of productivity growth, 60 percent of exports, and 70 percent of business R&D spending (Exhibit 1). 1

In recent decades, the United States has seemed […]

The future of work 3 – automation

The future of work 3 – automation

In this third part of my series on the future of work, I want to deal with the impact of automation, in particular robots and artificial intelligence (AI) on jobs. I have covered this issue of the relationship between human labour and machines before, including robots and AI. But is there anything new that we can find after the COVID slump?

The leading American mainstream expert on the impact of automation on future jobs is Daron Acemoglu, Institute Professor at MIT. In testimony to the US Congress, Acemoglu started by reminding Congress that automation was not a recent phenomenon. The […]

No One Talks About Too Much Automation Anymore

No One Talks About Too Much Automation Anymore

“Defending Digital” Series, No. 7: Remember all those breathless warnings that artificial intelligence would soon eliminate a wide range of “routine” jobs? So far, pretty much the opposite has occurred. Given today’s widespread worker shortages, corrosive inflation, and vast societal challenges, America clearly needs all the automation it can get.

As with many famous anecdotes, the accounts vary. When Milton Friedman was visiting India in the 1960s, he saw men digging a canal with shovels. When he asked why the workers didn’t use modern earth-moving equipment, he was told that using shovels created more jobs, to which Friedman is said […]

The global workforce faces huge levels of stress and change, according to a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos

The global workforce faces huge levels of stress and change, according to a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos

Dipu Moni, Minister of Education of Bangladesh speaking at the World Economic Forum on May 24, 2022. Automation, social issues, and the growth of green industries due to net-zero climate goals are all putting a strain on the world’s workforce.

World Economic Forum panelists discussed how improved education programs and management structures could contribute to an improved future for workers.

Increased investment in "social jobs" and better healthcare care could also result in greater prosperity and job creation. Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original analysis, news, and trends — delivered right to your inbox. […]

Andrew Ng: Unbiggen AI

There’s a movement afoot to counter the dystopian and apocalyptic narratives of artificial intelligence. Some people in the field are concerned that the frequent talk of AI as an existential risk to humanity is poisoning the public against the technology, and are deliberately setting out more hopeful narratives. One such effort is a book that came out last fall called AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future .

The book is co-written by Kai-Fu Lee , an AI expert who leads the venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures , and Chen Qiufan , a science fiction author known for his novel […]

Opinion Artificial intelligence may take your job. Some lessons from my grandmother

Opinion Artificial intelligence may take your job. Some lessons from my grandmother

Up to 40 per cent of all jobs now are tipped to be taken over by AI and robots in the next few decades. My grandmother has some advice on how to cope. Young children riding a horse It’s inevitable that artificial intelligence and robots will take over jobs. Photo: Bradley Hastings, Author provided.

My grandmother, Claire Hastings, was born in the 1920s on a farm in Armidale, northern New South Wales. That was a relatively common thing, with just 43 per cent of the population living in cities, compared with more than 70 per cent now .

She lived in […]

Bringing good technology to light

Bringing good technology to light

Hakim Hayat

In 2016, the top one per cent of the world’s population owned half of the global wealth. But for the past two years, the income of 99 per cent of the global population has worsened while the income of the top 10 richest people has doubled, of whom eight are technology titans.

According to the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), digital transformation is one of the most crucial factors changing modern human life – from electronic machinery, digital computers, and artificial intelligence (AI). Recent AI-related technologies include software as a service (SaaS), robotics, the Internet […]

Artificial intelligence may take your job. Some lessons from my grandmother

Artificial intelligence may take your job. Some lessons from my grandmother

Siblings on the way to school. Bradley Hastings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

My grandmother, Claire Hastings, was born in the 1920s on a farm in Armidale, northern New South Wales. That was a relatively common thing, with just 43% of the population living in cities, compared with more than 70% now .

She lived in a small wooden hut, with a chicken coop out the front and fields out the back. When […]