Tag: inequality

Maybe the robot will do you a favor and snatch your job

Maybe the robot will do you a favor and snatch your job

Recently, Amazon floated the idea that it would be fully automated in a decade: Not all of the 125,000 people who work at Amazon warehouses have to worry about losing their jobs to robots — not for 10 years or so, anyways.

On Tuesday, Scott Anderson, director of Amazon Robotics Fulfillment, led reporters on a tour of the company’s Baltimore warehouse during which he said it would be “at least 10 years” before Amazon could entirely automate the fulfillment process. When we read further into the story, of course, we find it’s not so simple. Robots are especially bad […]

Robotics boom to lead to economic inequality across Southeast Asia

Robotics boom to lead to economic inequality across Southeast Asia

Author and futurist Martin Ford has warned AI adoption will not only result in job losses but economic equality.

Speaking about advances in technologies across Southeast Asia, Ford said:

"One main danger of advanced technology adoption across Southeast Asia is economic inequality and perhaps unemployment or underemployment for some groups of workers. The implications of advancing automation technology is that capital captures more income relative to labor. This means that a few very wealthy people who already own a lot of capital are likely to become even richer, while average workers who own nothing but the value of their own labor […]

Robots and us

Robots and us

Photo: Getty Images The robots are not at the gates and the future of work could be great, Kinley Salmon says. So why are others not so chipper? And what does Trump, Kaitangata and the demise of the middle class have to do with how we will live when automation takes over? Bruce Munro investigates.

In late-June, 1970, as Joyce Kempton stood in the fading light at the Balclutha bus stop waiting for her fiance, Sid Beck, to pick her up in his Mark II Zephyr, she was acutely aware of the air of concern pervading her hometown, Kaitangata.

Joyce […]

Opinion Bill Shorten’s promise of a living wage is both realistic and necessary. But it’s not enough

Opinion Bill Shorten's promise of a living wage is both realistic and necessary. But it's not enough

It ought to be possible to replace Australia’s minimum wage with a higher "living wage" without putting people our of work, but more will be needed. Opposition leader Bill Shorten will instruct the Fair Work Commission to replace the minimum wage with a higher “living wage” if Labor are elected to power. Image from Wikimedia/Matt Roberts, ABC. If elected, Labor has promised to ask the Fair Work Commission to substantially increase the minimum wage, at present pegged at A$18.93 per hour or $719.20 per week .

It says the intervention is justified because under current rules, the commission is required […]

Bill Shorten’s promise of a living wage is both realistic and necessary. But it’s not enough.

Bill Shorten’s promise of a living wage is both realistic and necessary. But it’s not enough.

Today we kick off a four part election series on wages, industrial relations, Labor and the union movement. In the first, University of NSW professor Andreas Ortmann examines Labor’s proposal to have the Fair Work Commission award a so-called “living wage” instead of a minimum wage. You can read a comparison of Labor and the Coalition’s industrial relations policies here .

If elected, Labor has promised to ask the Fair Work Commission to substantially increase the minimum wage, at present pegged at A$18.93 per hour or $719.20 per week .

It says the intervention is justified because under current rules, […]

Want to Make an Advanced Robot? Beware of these Repercussions

Want to Make an Advanced Robot? Beware of these Repercussions

The artificial intelligence age is here marching ahead to increase human productivity in multiple ways, transforming everything from transportation to education to healthcare. Some enthusiastic computer scientists even think humanity will find a “master algorithm” that will fix our politics and make lives “longer, happier and more productive.” In the grandest of these visions, smart computing machines could automate all of the scientific discovery.

As automation deploys itself into more and more uses, many people worry about the future of their work and the security of their jobs. Ever wondered what will happen if millions of human workers no longer […]

Robots stealing our jobs? Don’t panic, author says

Robots stealing our jobs? Don't panic, author says

A human tendency to revel in grim, dystopian future-gazing, and give too much credence to self-interested Silicon Valley "futurists", has led to fears that robots and artificial intelligence systems are about to take half of all human jobs.

But Kiwi World Bank economist and author Kinley Salmon gives human workers at least 25 years breathing space before any "labour-light" future threatens.

And he scorns the more extreme job-loss predictions touted by some of the biggest names in New Zealand and world business, seeing no signs of the robot revolution coming through in official unemployment or productivity figures. SUPPLIEDWorld Bank economist and […]

The Future of Automation Could Bring More Workplace Inequality, Tensions

The Future of Automation Could Bring More Workplace Inequality, Tensions

Automation, robots and globalization are rapidly changing the workplace and governments must act fast and decisively to counter the effects or face a worsening of social and economic tensions, the OECD warned.

Almost half of all jobs could be wiped out or radically altered in the next two decades due to automation, the Paris-based group said in a report last week. According to OECD Labor Director Stefano Scarpetta, the pace of change will be “startling.”

Safety nets and training systems built up over decades to protect workers are struggling to keep up with the “megatrends” changing the nature of work, the […]

‘Globalisation is moving from products to services and data’

'Globalisation is moving from products to services and data'

Hans-Paul Burkner, Chairman of the Boston Consulting Group (Photograph by Shekhar Ghosh) A lot of countries are closing borders, and there is a mood of anti-globalisation. There are right-wing attacks. How does this effect business?

It is not just right-wing attack but a populist attack from both sides of the extreme. They are seeing loss of control. In developed countries, they fear losing factories, and jobs. Overall, we have gone through a very positive development across the world, which has reduced poverty, increased life expectancy. More children are going to schools than ever before. Fewer people die than ever […]

How robots became a scapegoat for the destruction of the working class

How robots became a scapegoat for the destruction of the working class

Should workers fear the robots ? You don’t have to look far to find lots of people shouting "yes."

Magazines and newspapers blare headlines like " Welcoming our new robot overlords ," " When your new co-worker is a robot ," and " You will lose your job to a robot — and sooner than you think ." Studies suggest anywhere from 9 percent to 47 percent of American jobs could be automated in the next few decades. In 2017, Bill Gates proposed a "robot tax" to address the problem. Andrew Yang, a long-shot contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, […]