Tag: liberal

Long Before the Day After

Long Before the Day After

In Greek mythology, Talos was an automaton that protected Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders: Wikimedia Book: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
Publication: Jonathan Cape
Pages: 368
Price: 799 The Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari earned fame with Sapiens, a wonderfully lucid prehistory of the human race for the lay reader, and disappointed a little with Homo Deus, a speculation on the eventual future of the human race. Sapiens made the reader think afresh — even the reader familiar with Denisovans and the debate about the cultural accomplishments of […]

New York City high schools should expand vocational education

New York City high schools should expand vocational education

A group of students doing their work in a classroom workshop near Robert Bosch Vocational School in Ulm, Germany. The United States is entering an era of dramatic economic upheaval as the industrial economy – and, increasingly, even the service sector – automates tasks once performed by humans. In 20 years, many of the jobs currently held by people without college degrees, including cab and truck drivers, forklift operators and even line cooks, could be filled by robots. Last year, a report by the McKinsey Global Institute found that up to 73 million American jobs could be lost to […]

Make robots pay taxes? Feds mull ways to adapt to job site automation, ‘gig’ economy

Make robots pay taxes? Feds mull ways to adapt to job site automation, ‘gig’ economy

Print this page A bricklaying robot known as SAM (Semi-Automated Mason) is one of the many examples of the drive toward further automation within the construction industry. PHOTO: Construction Robotics/YouTube OTTAWA—The Liberals have been told to consider taxing robots that displace workers, letting people pay their tax bill in kind rather than with cash, and work to prevent income inequality before it happens.

The ideas are part of a massive government effort to adapt to a rapidly changing workforce and stave off some of the strain it could cause on federal finances.

Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the access […]

Make robots pay taxes? Documents detail ideas to adapt to changing labour force

Make robots pay taxes? Documents detail ideas to adapt to changing labour force

The Liberals have been told to consider taxing robots that displace workers, letting people pay their tax bill in kind rather than with cash, and work to prevent income inequality before it happens.

The ideas are part of a massive government effort to adapt to a rapidly changing workforce and stave off some of the strain it could cause on federal finances.

Documents obtained by The Canadian Press under the access to information law provide a window into the ideas the Liberals have been asked to consider as they modernize the social safety net and labour regulations.All the ideas are aimed […]

Automation and The Future of Work: How fluent thinking can enhance your hireability and increase your value

Automation and The Future of Work: How fluent thinking can enhance your hireability and increase your value

Fluency of ideas is a highly desirable future work skill, and the ability to come up with multiple ideas around a given topic is something that can be learned and practiced

There is a new line of thinking emerging around the topic of our AI-powered future, and what awaits us in the future of work.

If, in past years, the tone of most conversations has been on the dire side—the robots are coming to take your jobs and such—the winds are blowing in fairer directions as people start to realize the opportunities ahead. In short, we’re discovering there is an […]

As the age of AI looms, what is the future for labour and unions?

As the age of AI looms, what is the future for labour and unions?

Baxter the industrial robot, used on production lines, is on display at the Science Museum at Preview Of The Science Museum’s Robots Exhibition at Science Museum on February 7, 2017 in London, England. (Getty) Christo Aivalis is a postdoctoral fellow in the history department at the University of Toronto. He is the author of The Constant Liberal: Pierre Trudeau, Organized Labour, and the Canadian Social Democratic Left.

Every year, Canadians gather in early September to celebrate Labour Day. For many, it serves primarily as summer’s last hurrah. But Labour Day transcends barbeques and the back-to-school blues, stretching as it […]

Editorial: Raising minimum wage would cost jobs

Editorial: Raising minimum wage would cost jobs

Ballot drives for a $12 minimum wage and mandatory sick time appear to be headed for consideration in the Republican-controlled Legislature after Labor Day.

The calculus that has Republicans considering a move that would normally be anathema to their free-market principles is a political one, not an economic one.

The proposals likely would be a big lure for liberal-leaning voters to come out to the polls. That’s the situation Republicans are trying to avert in a year when many expect Democrats to make big gains, fueled by anti-Trump fervor. By passing the measures, the Legislature can keep the proposals off the […]

Coffee and Contemplation: Could Universal Basic Income bridge divide between man and machine?

Coffee and Contemplation: Could Universal Basic Income bridge divide between man and machine?

Last week we talked about AI and its inevitable impact on the lifestyles and employment of people in the workforce. You can argue reasonably I think about how much impact AI and automation is going to have. Some think it’s more, some think its less.

Some think that it will be a net gain of zero, with new types of jobs being created to fill the vacuum left by those lost to automation. I’m sure the horse thought the same thing about that new car thing a century ago.

For the sake of argument, however, let’s say the horse is wrong.Let’s […]

Robot Bartenders and the Future of Work

Robot Bartenders and the Future of Work

Higher ed seems to be a hotbed of worry about a robot-driven jobless future. This is at least true of the edtech people with which I hang around.

Go to any conference that is supposed to be about online learning and educational technology, and you will hear a good deal of conversation about robots.

Worries will be expressed about driverless cars taking all the driving jobs. A recent MIT Technology Review article pointed out that 3.8 million Americans make their living driving, including 1.7 million who drive trucks. Goldman Sachs estimates that self-driving vehicles will eliminate 300,000 jobs a year, once […]

Obama: Tech Is Biggest Challenge To Employment But Also Africa’s Biggest Entrepreneurial Enabler

Obama: Tech Is Biggest Challenge To Employment But Also Africa's Biggest Entrepreneurial Enabler

Despite the advances it has enabled, technology is the biggest threat to employment, says former President Barack Obama.

Speaking at the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg, he said economic forces and globalisation “powered by new technologies” helped the world in the last few decades prosper and “unleashed entrepreneurial talents”. He has previously praised how Africa has used technology, especially mobile, to be more innovative.

Giving his highest profile speech since he left politics, Obama used the occasion to its fullest in a stirring talk exemplifying the power of economic growth and globalisation to uplift people’s lives. But warned about the […]