Tag: productivity

Automation to disproportionately affect women in healthcare

Automation to disproportionately affect women in healthcare

An emergency department in 2030 is poised to look much different as automation takes hold, and those changes are likely to disproportionately affect women in healthcare, according to a new report.

Automation will displace as many as 1 in 4 female workers across all sectors, or 160 million women, but that will be offset by an increase in demand and productivity, according to a new report from the McKinsey Global Institute. That does not account for "frontier" jobs that one could not even imagine today, said Kweilin Ellingrud, a senior partner at McKinsey and co-author of the report.

"It is scary […]

What is the fifth industrial revolution and how will it change the world?

What is the fifth industrial revolution and how will it change the world?

New technology is just the tip of the fifth industrial revolution iceberg (Picture: Brittany Hosea-Small/AFP/Getty Images) There were nearly two centuries between the first and second industrial revolutions.

We’re now living in either the third or fourth industrial revolution (also known as Industry 4.0), depending on who you talk to, and we’re ‘on the cusp’ of the fifth one.

With the third only fully getting underway in 2012, according to the Economist , that’s a lot of industrial revolutions for a decade.The first mechanised the textile industry, the second created the means for mass production and the third is around the […]

“Is it unethical to not tell my employer I’ve automated my job?”

“Is it unethical to not tell my employer I’ve automated my job?”

Roughly two years ago, a post on workforce question-and-answer site Workplace StackExchange generated a lively debate. The post, which has since been viewed nearly a half-million times, was by a user named Etherable, who designed an algorithm that transformed the substance of a 40-hour workweek into a two-hour project. The poster was using the remaining time to tend to personal issues and spend more time with their son. Etherable asked, “Is it unethical for me to not tell my employer I’ve automated my job?”

The question seems to be a straightforward yes/no question. But the responses were often qualified. Some […]

Automation vs jobs – 5 questions everyone should look at and ask!

Automation vs jobs – 5 questions everyone should look at and ask!

Everywhere is the fear of large-scale automation leading to mass unemployment and insecurity. We are at the cusp of major technological change, drastically changing the nature of jobs, leaving masses of people unemployed and worsening economic inequality.

According to a 2013 study by Oxford University researchers, 47 percent of U.S. employees are at risk of automation, while a 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report claims that one-third of U.S. workers will be displaced by imminent automation from their current jobs. Other reports offer tamer prospects, with a recent OCDE report (2018) finding that only 9% of U.S. jobs are “highly automatable.” […]

Artificial intelligence, the future of work, and inequality

Artificial intelligence, the future of work, and inequality

Figure 1: Gross Domestic Product in five countries, 1000-2015. Source: The CORE-Econ Project. Credit: Colorado State University One of the most spectacular facts of the last two centuries of economic history is the exponential growth in GDP per capita in most of the world. Figure 1 shows the rise (and the difference) in living standards for five countries since 1000 AD.

This economic progress, unprecedented in human history, would be impossible without major breakthroughs in technology. The economic historian Joel Mokyr has argued that the Enlightenment in Britain brought new ways to transfer scientific discoveries into practical tools for engineers […]

Facing The Unknown Future Of Work As AI Changes The Rules Of Business

Facing The Unknown Future Of Work As AI Changes The Rules Of Business

Even as we read about the first layoffs blamed at least in part on automation, there is still cause for optimism. While easily automated jobs may fall by the wayside, it’s important to remember that new jobs managing and leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) technology are being created.

Titles like edge computing release manager, edge stream researcher and AI analytics executive did not exist until very recently. Earlier this year, I hired a vice president of AI and robotic process automation. How many of us thought even ten years ago that a role like this would be so central for business […]

Craftsmen: Capitalism’s conscientious objectors

This is the most amazing sound,” Warwick Jones says. I listen closely. There are footfalls, the rustle of fabric, and, most importantly, the voices of craftsmen. Jones grins. “You don’t hear a machine,” he says.

Jones is the CEO of Oxxford Clothes, a company that largely eschews the conventional machinery of mass-produced clothing. Even in the luxurious realm of high-end men’s attire—suits, topcoats, blazers, tuxedos, and slacks—Oxxford’s commitment to handwork is unique. There is no other company in the world that I know of with a corps of trained artisans committed to producing the kind of handmade garments that, once […]

‘The UK is a long way behind in terms of productivity’: Mike Wilson, BARA

Chairman of the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA) Mike Wilson discusses the ‘underperforming’ state of the UK’s manufacturing robot industry. He says without an increased commitment to automation, it will find itself with bigger problems on its plate than Brexit.

“The UK is a long way behind in terms of productivity,” says Mike Wilson of the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA). “The increased use of robotics is an important element of addressing that shortfall.” Wilson is the chairman of BARA, an organisation that represents “the supply chain for robot and automation products into the UK”. Its membership consists […]

The Repercussions of Automation

The Repercussions of Automation

FREMONT, CA – The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) is driving human productivity to new levels, transforming the approaches adopted by different sectors across the globe. As automation is deployed across different levels, the human workforce is slowly being replaced by automated machines.

According to recent research by the McKinsey Global Institute, around 15 percent of the global workforce will likely be replaced by machines by 2030. However, the creation of new jobs could make up for the lost positions. Consequently, almost 75 million to 375 million people across the globe might need to switch their occupations.

Nevertheless, emerging technologies are […]

Listen, RBA, to Money Morning Readers

Listen, RBA, to Money Morning Readers

There you have it…

Last week, we found out why ScoMo defeated the Bill Australia couldn’t afford.

Voters went with the Liberals for economic reasons.In a JWS Research survey of 1,000 voters, 39% of them said economic issues were a key factor for their vote.One Morrison voter later said, ‘ Bill Shorten is no prime minister. ’‘ He would have sent us broke. He had no clue what climate change would cost or how long to charge an electric car. He looked incompetent. ’While I agree with the passionate voter, I’m not so sure Morrison had — or has — much […]