Tag: inequality

Automation to disproportionately affect women in healthcare

Automation to disproportionately affect women in healthcare

An emergency department in 2030 is poised to look much different as automation takes hold, and those changes are likely to disproportionately affect women in healthcare, according to a new report.

Automation will displace as many as 1 in 4 female workers across all sectors, or 160 million women, but that will be offset by an increase in demand and productivity, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute. That does not account for "frontier" jobs that one could not even imagine today, said Kweilin Ellingrud, a senior partner at McKinsey and co-author of the report.

"It is scary […]

Populism is thriving as losers to the robot revolution demand radical change: Carl Benedikt Frey

Populism is thriving as losers to the robot revolution demand radical change: Carl Benedikt Frey

The mainstream political parties have largely neglected these losers, mostly lowskilled working class. The populists are tapping into their anger, says Frey.

The urban-rural divide that we see today, also in India, is likely to be exacerbated because new jobs mostly emerge in cities with skilled populations, says Frey. The rise of right-wing leaders has been a recurring theme of recent times. Is it linked to the emerging economic situation, especially the growing inequality and the hollowing out of middle-class jobs amid a wave of tech-led disruptions? Carl Benedikt Frey, co-director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and […]

Automation vs jobs – 5 questions everyone should look at and ask!

Automation vs jobs – 5 questions everyone should look at and ask!

Everywhere is the fear of large-scale automation leading to mass unemployment and insecurity. We are at the cusp of major technological change, drastically changing the nature of jobs, leaving masses of people unemployed and worsening economic inequality.

According to a 2013 study by Oxford University researchers, 47 percent of U.S. employees are at risk of automation, while a 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report claims that one-third of U.S. workers will be displaced by imminent automation from their current jobs. Other reports offer tamer prospects, with a recent OCDE report (2018) finding that only 9% of U.S. jobs are “highly automatable.” […]

Automation isn’t about giving in to the robots

Automation isn’t about giving in to the robots

Future workplaces still need those high skill jobs credentials to make it happen Image Credit: Hugo A. Sanchez/©Gulf News We’ve all heard the warnings of an impending dystopian future.

According to Deloitte, an estimated 35 per cent of UK jobs are at high risk of automation in the next 10 to 20 years, while in the past 15 years technology already contributed to the loss of over 800,000 jobs. Market research firm Forrester predicts 6 per cent of US jobs will be lost to robots and automation by 2021, with the main losses being felt in transportation, logistics, customer services, […]

Artificial intelligence, the future of work, and inequality

Artificial intelligence, the future of work, and inequality

Figure 1: Gross Domestic Product in five countries, 1000-2015. Source: The CORE-Econ Project. Credit: Colorado State University One of the most spectacular facts of the last two centuries of economic history is the exponential growth in GDP per capita in most of the world. Figure 1 shows the rise (and the difference) in living standards for five countries since 1000 AD.

This economic progress, unprecedented in human history, would be impossible without major breakthroughs in technology. The economic historian Joel Mokyr has argued that the Enlightenment in Britain brought new ways to transfer scientific discoveries into practical tools for engineers […]

Letter — Limited government approach to income inequality

One idea, proposed by conservative economist Milton Friedman. is to provide a minimum income for the poor. Such a program would be more efficient since it would eliminate many welfare programs requiring fewer government workers to run.

Besides the poor, we need to address the problem of disappearing jobs. Globalization has been a factor where some have been displaced by competing workers that pay lower wages as compared to our country. Another factor eliminating jobs has been automation reducing the number of workers required. One example has been the coal industry. Lastly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens to destroy millions of […]

Letter — Limited government approach to income inequality

One idea, proposed by conservative economist Milton Friedman. is to provide a minimum income for the poor. Such a program would be more efficient since it would eliminate many welfare programs requiring fewer government workers to run.

Besides the poor, we need to address the problem of disappearing jobs. Globalization has been a factor where some have been displaced by competing workers that pay lower wages as compared to our country. Another factor eliminating jobs has been automation reducing the number of workers required. One example has been the coal industry. Lastly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) threatens to destroy millions of […]

The Repercussions of Automation

The Repercussions of Automation

FREMONT, CA – The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving human productivity to new levels, transforming the approaches adopted by different sectors across the globe. As automation is deployed across different levels, the human workforce is slowly being replaced by automated machines.

According to recent research by the McKinsey Global Institute, around 15 percent of the global workforce will likely be replaced by machines by 2030. However, the creation of new jobs could make up for the lost positions. Consequently, almost 75 million to 375 million people across the globe might need to switch their occupations.

Nevertheless, emerging technologies are […]

AI: Augmented inequality?

AI: Augmented inequality?

Governments need to take an active interest in how automation and artificial intelligence will shape the human society in the near future.

There is little doubt about the benefits of the current rush towards new technologies that are rapidly transforming our companies, industries and indeed the way of living across the globe. Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Automation, Bio-engineering, Industry 4.0 or Artificial Intelligence.

Companies around the world, irrespective of the country or the industry in which they operate, are adapting or at least preparing to adapt these innovations, if not enthusiastically then at least by compulsion as they fear being left […]

Relax, robots won’t be taking your job

Relax, robots won’t be taking your job

My favourite series as a kid was The Jetsons , not so much because it was funny but because it was aspirational, particularly Rosie the robot who took care of all domestic chores: the cooking, the cleaning, the serving, everything.

You’d be forgiven, then, based on an endless queue of media articles, for thinking Rosies are our future and that you’ll someday lose your job to one. They’ll be delivering your groceries and serving your coffee , and they’ll be cleaning your house and driving your bus . They’ll even be giving you advice and keeping you company . But […]