job losses due to automation

job losses due to automation

Thirteen years ago, two prominent U.S. economists wrote that driverless cars couldn’t execute a left turn against oncoming traffic because too many factors were involved. Six years later, Google proved it could make fully autonomous cars, threatening the livelihoods of millions of truck and taxi drivers. Throughout much of the developed world, gainful employment is seen as almost a fundamental right. But what if, in the not-too-distant future, there won’t be enough jobs to go around? That’s what some economists think will happen as robots and artificial intelligence increasingly become capable of performing human tasks. Of course, past technological […]

Disappearance of Work: QuickTake

Thirteen years ago, two prominent U.S. economists wrote that driverless cars couldn’t execute a left turn against oncoming traffic because too many factors were involved. Six years later, Google proved it could make fully autonomous cars, threatening the livelihoods of millions of truck and taxi drivers. Throughout much of the developed world, gainful employment is seen as almost a fundamental right. But what if, in the not-too-distant future, there won’t be enough jobs to go around? That’s what some economists think will happen as robots and artificial intelligence increasingly become capable of performing human tasks. Of course, past technological […]

Marching to Dystopia

(photo by helran) It wasn’t that long ago (October 2016) that federal Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau got into trouble when he said that Canadian youth need to “get used to” job churn — the crappy, short-term contract jobs with low pay and no benefits that are the hallmark of the “precariat” future. “We have to accept that,” Morneau pontificated.

Only days later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was heckled by participants at the Young Workers’ Summit organized by the Canadian Labour Congress in Ottawa. Several young people stood and turned their backs on Trudeau, a sign of their frustration over […]

Links and quotes for June 16, 2017: Amazon’s business model, Musk on Mars, AI lawyers, and more

Why Amazon Has No Profits (And Why It Works) — a16z

Amazon is buying more than groceries with Whole Foods: it’s also getting more than 400 stores to use as delivery hubs — Recode Amazon’s $14 billion deal for Whole Foods gives it more than just groceries. It also gets it crucial real estate it needs to accelerate its delivery operations. Amazon took a big leap into the grocery industry when it announced its intention to buy Whole Foods for $14 billion. But the deal gives Jeff Bezos something else he craves: More than 400 brick-and-mortar stores that […]

The Robot Takeover Is Greatly Exaggerated

The Robot Takeover Is Greatly Exaggerated

There’s lots of fretting these days that automation will displace huge numbers of workers. It makes sense to be worried. Although adoption of machines in the past didn’t make human labor obsolete, there’s no guarantee that future technology will work the same. Maybe this is an issue in the long-term, but for now at least automation probably isn’t taking away many jobs.

To hear me confidently declare that may come as a surprise to some, given the steady flow of articles sounding the alarm about a new paper by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economists Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo. Entitled […]

When It Comes to Automation, Wall Street Needs to Learn from the Rust Belt

When It Comes to Automation, Wall Street Needs to Learn from the Rust Belt

This article was written by Devin Gharibian-Saki, Chief Solution Officer at Redwood Software.

It’s an innovative change that has already started slipping into reality: Wall Street’s corporations are waking up to the potential of automation and robotics in their workplaces. New automation software and integrations for robotics are filtering into Wall Street and, as a result, are implying a need for change in the industry. Manufacturing

Rust Belt cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo have already seen the effects of automation on their respective workforces. Manufacturing jobs that once inundated these cities saw robotics and automation exert robust […]

Trump’s actions “reflect the corruption of the US political system”

Trump’s actions “reflect the corruption of the US political system”

Donald Trump’s first official trip abroad to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium and Italy left many politicians in Europe feeling helpless. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel says the West has become smaller. Are we entering a new era of transatlantic relations?

We are definitely in a new era, although the US has been less of a reliable partner for years now. It invaded Iraq in 2003. It created, together with the UK and France, the war in Libya in 2011. Along with Saudi Arabia, it began contributing to the destabilisation of Syria in 2011. It’s the country that triggered the 2008 […]

Richard Kyte: Value of work is more than a paycheck

Richard Kyte: Value of work is more than a paycheck

One day I asked my dad why he never used rollers for painting houses. Whenever he painted large flat surfaces — interior walls, ceilings, exterior siding — he used heavy 6-inch brushes. His forearms were like Popeye the Sailor’s. Richard Kyte “I’m a professional,” he answered. “Rollers are for do-it-yourselfers.”

He took pride in his work, and he respected the work of other professionals.

If a tail light went out in the family car, he would have me take the car down to Riewer’s service station to have the bulb replaced. Once I offered to do it. “No,” he said, “take […]

The continent enters the Robot Age

The continent enters the Robot Age

The future’s now: The shop floor robot has arms that are changed for different functions. (Oupa Nkosi, M&G) Science fiction writers predicted robots. They didn’t predict that they would look so boring. At the Africa Automation Fair in Johannesburg this week, there were no cyborgs on display, or R2D2-lookalikes scuttling between the stands. Instead, some of the most powerful machines were little more than black boxes with small screens and glowing lights, connected to a thicket of wires.

“Now you can control your factory from your phone. You don’t even need to be there,” said Unitronics salesman Dewald Potgieter.

He sells […]

Labor Markets in the Age of Automation

Labor Markets in the Age of Automation

BERKELEY – Advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are powering a new wave of automation, with machines matching or outperforming humans in a fast-growing range of tasks, including some that require complex cognitive capabilities and advanced degrees. This process has outpaced the expectations of experts; not surprisingly, its possible adverse effects on both the quantity and quality of employment have raised serious concerns.

To listen to President Donald Trump’s administration, one might think that trade remains the primary reason for the loss of manufacturing jobs in the United States. Trump’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has declared that the possible technological […]