Tag: productivity

Controlling the effects of AI on work and inequality

Controlling the effects of AI on work and inequality

Christian Kellermann and Mareike Winkler open a Social Europe series on artificial intelligence, arguing that regulation will be needed to ensure prosperity for all. Christian Kellermann What will be the effects of the digital transformation on jobs? Job creation outnumbering digital job destruction is part and parcel of standard artificial-intelligence (AI) prophecy. But the extent to which work tasks are upgraded—rather than downgraded or even replaced—is determined by at least two dimensions: the technical side and the work aspect.

Today, in the production and service sectors ‘digitalisation’ in most cases means the use of smartphones and tablets. These devices undoubtedly […]

Analysis: Online shopping is growing, but it isn’t creating jobs

Analysis: Online shopping is growing, but it isn't creating jobs

This has not been a great century for working in retail.

The sector, which added about 5 million jobs from 1980 through the end of 2000, has added only 416,100 since then. Since January 2017, retailers have shed 145,200 jobs even as overall employment growth has remained strong.

The obvious explanation here is the rise of online shopping. Nonstore retailers such as Amazon.com are included in the above retail employment totals, but with employment of 570,500 as of November they simply haven’t created enough jobs to make up for the stagnation in the rest of the sector. If you add in […]

Online shopping is growing, but it isn’t creating jobs

Online shopping is growing, but it isn't creating jobs

This has not been a great century for working in retail. The sector, which added about 5 million jobs from 1980 through the end of 2000, has added only 416,100 since. Since January 2017, retailers have shed 145,200 jobs even as overall employment growth has remained strong.

The obvious explanation here is the rise of online shopping. Nonstore retailers such as Amazon are included in the above retail employment totals, but with employment of 570,500 as of November they simply haven’t created enough jobs to make up for the stagnation in the rest of the sector. If you add in […]

What Do AI and Automation Changes Mean for Your Job?

What Do AI and Automation Changes Mean for Your Job?

MIT AI and the Work of the Future Congress AI and computer technology in general is certain to have a huge impact on the future of work, and rather than replacing jobs, technology is much more likely to change them. But the big concern is not the quantity of jobs, but rather the quality of the jobs in the future, particularly for less educated workers.

That was the big message from MIT’s AI and the Work of the Future Congress held a couple of weeks ago. Most participants seemed more upbeat about the possibilities than they were a few years […]

Rick Haglund: Research shows trade, not automation, is killing manufacturing jobs

Rick Haglund: Research shows trade, not automation, is killing manufacturing jobs

Manufacturers show their products on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, July 15, 2019, at the Made in America Product Showcase. | Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead, Flickr More than 5 million manufacturing jobs — almost 300,000 of them in Michigan — have been lost since the most recent employment peak in 1998.

Many economists have attributed the huge loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs mostly to booming productivity, enabled by the increasing use of robots and other automated processes in factories.

But Susan Houseman, vice president and director of research at the Kalamazoo-based W.E. Upjohn Institute for […]

The US cities where robots are impacting jobs the most

The US cities where robots are impacting jobs the most

The use of robots in U.S. workplaces has more than doubled since the Great Recession, but the impact has hit certain areas of the country — and segments of workers — more than others.

A recent report from The Century Foundation found Midwestern states such as Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin saw the sharpest growth in robots being used in the workplace from 2009 to 2017, and these areas now have the highest levels of "robot intensity" in the country.

Robot intensity refers to the number of industrial robots per 1,000 human workers. The higher the number, the more robots […]

Interview: Shaping the future

Interview: Shaping the future

Futurist Ray Hammond talks to Stephen Hyams about revolutions in healthcare, the future of work and cryptocurrencies Ray Hammond “By the mid-2030s robots will be so ubiquitous, powerful and capable that a lot of human endeavour will not be needed”

Ray Hammond has a long record of accurate foresight about the future, such as identifying the coming importance of the internet shortly after its launch.

How did he become a ‘futurist’?“It happened by accident,” he says. “After finishing with journalism, I wanted to become a writer. During a small book tour in San Diego, I met the well-respected futurist Alvin Toffler. […]

Supply Chain Talent: A Thousand Ways to Do What You’re Told

Supply Chain Talent: A Thousand Ways to Do What You’re Told Supply Chain Talent: A Thousand Ways to Do What You’re Told Global Supply Chains Trust in a “Stabilized” Economy What is your worth as a Supply Chain Professional? IMO 2020 is Coming to Town Part 2: Will spiking cost of fuel cause you pain? More News Life Maps and Supply Planning Maps – What They Have in Common: Success This white paper is an entertaining, quick read about Paul McGuire’s experiences in turning around supply planning processes.
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We are on the cusp of major challenges […]

View from India: New chips on the block

Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and new chips are opening out previously unexplored avenues.

Vertical-specific AI and deep learning chips are doing the rounds for facial- and speech-voice recognition. AI is being used to understand multitude gesture exchanges. Market drivers for AI, deep learning, machine learning and IoT include computer vision and neural computing, high bandwidth demands, image and video computing, and the broader move towards wider, increased digitisation.

AI has been making inroads into such diverse professions as healthcare, retail, education and automobile. Income tax is a relatively new vertical to tap AI solutions. The direct tax panel […]

Population Boom Masks Lingering Productivity Concerns in Canada

Population Boom Masks Lingering Productivity Concerns in Canada

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s immigration-driven population boom gets credit for driving employment gains, bolstering housing markets and keeping the nation’s expansion running.

But it’s also masking a deeper economic problem that will hamper the nation’s long-term growth: sluggish productivity gains.

Over the past two years Canada’s productivity hasn’t grown at all. And while the latest data due this week is poised to show a pick-up, it’s likely not sustainable, according to Bank of Montreal Chief Economist Doug Porter.“When you look at Canada’s overall growth rate it’s basically just keeping pace with population growth and not much else,” Porter said, citing meager business […]