For white-collar staff, Artificial Intelligence threatens new workplace revolution

For white-collar staff, Artificial Intelligence threatens new workplace revolution

a man works amid orange robot arms.(Photo |AP) DAVOS: If your job involves inputting reams of data for a company, you might want to think about retraining in a more specialised field. Or as a plumber.

After industrial robots and international trade put paid to many manufacturing jobs in the West, millions of white-collar workers could now be under threat from new technology such as artificial intelligence (AI).

The issue of how best to face up to this "Fourth Industrial Revolution" has been exercising politicians and business leaders this week at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine town of […]

Boss of the world’s largest recruiter: ‘One-off education followed by a career will no longer work’

Boss of the world's largest recruiter: 'One-off education followed by a career will no longer work'

Alain Dehaze, CEO of Adecco at Davos this year. Adecco DAVOS, SWITZERLAND — The world is going through a seismic shift in the make-up of its workforce and the boss of the world’s largest staffing firm told Business Insider that the only way to stay employed is to constantly learn.

The World Economic Forum’s benchmark "Global Risks" report for 2017 says the biggest risk to doing business globally is unemployment or underemployment due to the greater adoption of robots, automation, and artificial intelligence.

However, Adecco CEO Alain Dehaze told BI that companies now need to look beyond displacement and how […]

Davos — the rich are worried

“I can’t wait to see how the incoming administration deals with AI,” said US Secretary of State John Kerry in a less-than-gracious reference to the fact that the Trump team has not got a clue about the real driving force in the changing world economy.

What was striking was that Kerry did not have to clarify his remark for the 2,000 “global leaders” — politicians, bureaucrats, business representatives and public intellectuals — who are in the Swiss alpine town of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum. They all know what he is talking about.

This year’s Davos gathering is actually […]

Workplace automation: Separating fiction from fact

Workplace automation: Separating fiction from fact

By James Manyika, McKinsey & Company Director

The idea that robots could replace humans in the workplace dates back to science fiction writers a century ago, and it has been a recurring theme in political life for almost as long. Back in 1964, US President Lyndon B. Johnson created a national commission to examine the impact of automation on the economy and employment. Automation should be viewed as an ally, not an enemy, he said at the time. “If we understand it, if we plan for it, if we apply it well, automation will not be a job destroyer or […]

Less than 10% of jobs threatened by 3D printing & automation, says French employment council

Less than 10% of jobs threatened by 3D printing & automation, says French employment council

Like many new technologies, 3D printing has generated a lot of excitement while also inciting a fair amount of skepticism and—on occasion—vehement resistance. Perhaps the most prominent critique of the new technology is the idea that the adoption of additive manufacturing across a wide number of industries will result in the loss of jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

According to a recent report by France’s Employment Policy Council ( Conseil d’orientation pour l’emploi ), this claim could be seen as simplistic and exaggerated. In fact, the report estimates that less than 10% of jobs will actually be threatened by […]

How Much Will AI Decrease The Need For Human Labor?

How Much Will AI Decrease The Need For Human Labor?

(Image: Creative Commons) Do you think AI will decrease human labor? originally appeared on Quora : the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights .

20M-40M jobs are in peril in the US from developments in AI and other technology — 15 to 30% of the US labor force. So if foreseeable technologies materialize, then then the need for human labor could decrease.

Technology always puts existing jobs under strain. This doesn’t immediately mean that human labor as a whole is under threat. Generally, other professions grow to fill the loss, often creating more jobs […]

Half of paid work can be automated: report

Half of paid work can be automated: report

Automation the way of the future: A file photo of automatic robots working on a car at a factory in Poland. As a rule of thumb, the report said about 60% of all occupations have at least 30% of activities that could technically be automated. — Reuters About half of the work that people are paid to do in the global economy can be automated by adapting existing technologies, according to McKinsey Global Institute.

It also said people will need to continue working alongside machines to produce the economic growth rates which countries around the world aspire to reach.

The findings […]

Half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055 – McKinsey

Half of today’s work activities could be automated by 2055 – McKinsey

The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) issued the report “A future that works: automation, employment, and productivity” which assesses the economic impact of these factors.

Advances in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are ushering in a new age of automation, as machines match or outperform human performance in a range of work activities, including ones requiring cognitive capabilities. In this report, part of our ongoing research into the future of work, we analyze the automation potential of the global economy, the factors that will determine the pace and extent of workplace adoption, and the economic impact associated with its […]

GM, Wal-Mart Were Already Aboard Trump’s Jobs Train

GM, Wal-Mart Were Already Aboard Trump's Jobs Train

(Bloomberg Gadfly) — Dealing with Donald Trump’s Twitter rants is a new phenomenon for U.S. companies. For many of his favorite targets, creating jobs isn’t.

General Motors Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on Tuesday became the latest corporations to talk up the part they’re playing in the president-elect’s plan to become "the greatest jobs producer that God ever created." GM largely just summed up U.S. spending plans that had been in the works for a while, but it did so with panache , touting a $1 billion headline number and pledging to create or retain (emphasis on retain ) about […]

Report: Automation Threatens Tasks, But Not Necessarily Jobs

Report: Automation Threatens Tasks, But Not Necessarily Jobs

A recent report suggests that half of jobs performed by humans could be automated in coming decades.

But the analysis from the McKinsey Global Institute does not expect mass unemployment to accompany that trend.

The report, titled "A future that works: Automation, employment, and productivity," said that any analysis of automation should focus on activities performed by humans at their occupations — and not the occupation as a whole.McKinsey analysts said that although less than five percent are susceptible to full automation, nearly all occupations — including skilled, high-pay positions — could be partially automated."As processes are transformed by the automation […]