Tag: manufactur

Automation prefers man to the machine

Automation prefers man to the machine

Work experts and researchers believe that if jobs are going to become more automated in the future while shifting the role of humans in the workplace, further education and support must be given to workers who may become redundant.

Many economists argue that automation bears much more blame than globalization for the decline of jobs in the region’s manufacturing sector and the gutting of its middle class.

Indeed, in his farewell speech to thousands in a packed convention hall in Chicago, President Obama warned: ‘The next wave of economic dislocations won’t come from overseas. It will come from the relentless pace […]

Automated Trucks Threaten Millions of US Jobs

Automated Trucks Threaten Millions of US Jobs

Self-driving vehicles are coming on strong, faster than anyone knowledgeable thought a few years ago. Self-driving vehicles are being tested for real world use, and highway laws are being rejiggered to accommodate the new tech future.

NBC News Channel 02/06/2017 1:26

Self-Driving Semis Hit the Road in Texas But driving is a major jobs category, as shown by the map below, taken from an interactive NPR graphic in the 2015 article Map: The Most Common Job In Every State . Millions of driving jobs still exist in the US because it’s one gig that could not be outsourced to China, […]

MALPASS | A.I. : Benefit or Hazard?

MALPASS | A.I. : Benefit or Hazard?

For decades, pop culture has been fascinated by robot servants. It always seemed so far off, having a robotic servant to help in our day to day lives. Look at the Jetsons, they needed to have stratosphere, saucer houses before they had a robot maid. It makes it strange to think that we now live in a society where robotics not only exist, but are the norm. I’m not talking about independent, Turing Test beating automata, but increasingly intelligent machines are finding their way into day-to-day life. Self-checkout registers have gone from a novelty to a familiarity in the […]

It’s time to prepare for your very own robot co-worker

It’s time to prepare for your very own robot co-worker

Forewarned is forearmed: According to the International Federation of Robotics’ report late last year, 2015 saw a whopping 15% increase in sales of units across the world, by far the highest level ever recorded for one year. — Reuters Move over humans, the robot revolution is here.

Even as a debate rages worldwide over the danger technology poses to employment rates, with Microsoft founder Bill gates recently saying that robots stealing human jobs should pay income tax, the surge in their use at workplaces seems unstoppable.

According to the International Federation of Robotics’ report late last year, 2015 saw a whopping […]

End of jobs

End of jobs

A friend, who was an office-head, once recounted a poignant story about his stenographer. A vendor had come to his office to demonstrate the use of a speech-recognition software that would allow a note to be dictated directly to the computer. After the vendor had left, the steno asked him, “Sir, does that mean my services are no longer needed?” Stenographers are no longer recruited in any office.

In 2014, a writing software called Quill was developed by an American company; it could convert numerical data into a written story, accomplishing within seconds what it took experienced analysts weeks of […]

Bill Gates: This is why we should tax robots

Bill Gates: This is why we should tax robots

Robots are taking human jobs. But Bill Gates believes that governments should tax companies’ use of them, as a way to at least temporarily slow the spread of automation and to fund other types of employment.

It’s a striking position from the world’s richest man and a self-described techno-optimist who co-founded Microsoft, one of the leading players in artificial-intelligence technology.

In a recent interview with Quartz , Gates said that a robot tax could finance jobs taking care of elderly people or working with kids in schools, for which needs are unmet and to which humans are particularly well suited.He argues […]

Some surprising (to me) facts about plastics employment

Some surprising (to me) facts about plastics employment

I have a finger on the pulse of the plastics industry. I visit companies, talk to executives on the phone, meet them at conferences and shows. I also read tons of stories about them, written by our staff and others.

But once in a while I see something surprising about plastics processing. That’s happened twice in the past month. Maybe these snippets will surprise you, too.

The first came in our January podcast, which we call Plastics News Radio. Steve Toloken, our news editor-international, interviewed Bill Carteaux, president and CEO of the Plastics Industry Association.Carteaux has been in the plastics industry […]

Trump’s promise to bring back manufacturing jobs seems like a false dream

Trump's promise to bring back manufacturing jobs seems like a false dream

Susan Stacy moves a tube to sort recycled plastic bottle chips being processed at the Repreve Bottle Processing Center, part of the Unifi textile company in Yadkinville, N.C., Oct. 21, 2016. America has lost more than 7 million factory jobs since manufacturing employment peaked in 1979. Yet American factory production, minus raw materials and some other costs, more than doubled over the same span to $1.91 trillion last year, according to the Commerce Department.

Susan Stacy moves a tube to sort recycled plastic bottle chips being processed at the Repreve Bottle Processing Center, part of the Unifi textile company in […]

If a robot takes your job, should it pay your taxes too?

If a robot takes your job, should it pay your taxes too?

Bill Gates wants to tax robots.

Now, Gates is a fantastically successful businessman. The Microsoft co-founder is worth $85 billion, after all. He’s also a major philanthropist with a keen interest in public policy. But he should be careful about his musings to the media. The world’s richest person can’t just leave live ammo like "Maybe there should be a robot tax" lying around for some opportunistic politician to pick up. Certainly not with Donald Trump as president.

Look, all that has to happen is for America’s cable-news-addict-in-chief to hear someone on Fox & Friends talking about how "Bill Gates said […]

Workplace automation favors machine over manpower

Workplace automation favors machine over manpower

Photo Courtesy of I4U News Jose Rodriguez
CONTRIBUTOR

Automated systems are part of our everyday life workforce, from manufacturing to self-checkouts in a supermarket. The implementation of said systems replaces human workforce members, generating worries each time new technologies are introduced.
Recently Amazon introduced its new convenience store “Amazon Go,” which is said to open early this year in Seattle, WA. This store promises to provide shoppers with a simple shopping experience without lines, checkouts or registers, all thanks to machine learning, computer vision and artificial intelligence according to Amazon.As these new technologies are introduced, questions and fears about the future […]