Tag: productivity

March 2019: Automation and the Future of Work

March 2019: Automation and the Future of Work

Digitization and automation will displace some workers, create new jobs, and encourage reskilling in industries like retail, logistics, manufacturing, and construction.

Automation’s impact on the job market has been and will continue to be significant, to say the least. Forrester Research calls automation central to the next phase of digital transformation, because it’s driving value in terms of faster product delivery, better product quality and higher dependability, and more personalization and convenience. Alongside all the excitement about automation and the future of work, however, is fear about job displacement and, occasionally, a bit of fear-mongering as well. Certainly, the […]

The revolution need not be automated

The revolution need not be automated

BOSTON – Artificial intelligence is transforming every aspect of our lives, not least the economy. As a general-purpose technology, AI’s applications are potentially endless. While it can be used to automate tasks previously performed by people, it can also make human labor more productive, thereby increasing labor demand. Unfortunately, the current trend in commercial AI development is toward more and more automation, with potentially disastrous consequences for society. To be sure, automation has been an engine of productivity growth since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when, starting in the late eighteenth century, weaving and spinning were mechanised. But […]

1.5 million jobs in England at risk of being replaced by automation

1.5 million jobs in England at risk of being replaced by automation

The Office for National Statistics announced this week that 1.5 million jobs in England are at risk of being replaced by automation. Computer programs, algorithms, and robots are forecast to replace a variety of roles in the future, and those roles which are low-skill and routine-driven.

The ONS reached its findings by analysing the jobs of 20 million people in England in 2017. It found that 7.4% of those jobs are at ‘high risk’ of replacement by automation.

Most notable in the ONS findings is the warning that women and young people are statistically most vulnerable to automation. 70.2% of high-risk […]

The Revolution Need Not Be Automated

The Revolution Need Not Be Automated

For centuries after the Industrial Revolution, automation did not hinder wage and employment growth, because it was accompanied by new technologies geared toward maintaining the role of human labor in value creation. But in the era of artificial intelligence, it will be up to policymakers to ensure that the pattern continues.

BOSTON – Artificial intelligence is transforming every aspect of our lives, not least the economy. As a general-purpose technology, AI’s applications are potentially endless. While it can be used to automate tasks previously performed by people, it can also make human labor more productive, thereby increasing labor demand. Unfortunately, […]

New Jobs in the AI Era

New Jobs in the AI Era

Takeaway: Nearly every technology advancement creates fears of unemployment, but AI stands to create far more jobs than it destroys.

Artificial intelligence is about to go mainstream in the enterprise, which means that a lot of the jobs currently done by humans will soon be done by machines. But will this lead to the massive wave of unemployment that some doomsayers predict, or will it produce a new era of employee productivity similar to what has greeted previous forms of automation ?

Even the most enthusiastic AI boosters admit that jobs will be lost during the transition, but they […]

Will automation replace jobs

RA Mashelkar: “Automation to replace 69% jobs a serious concern” Leading scientist and former CSIR chief, Dr RA Mashelkar explains the emerging technological scenario, the subsequent job losses and how to deal with it, in this interview with National Herald Will automation ever replace the role of a sales rep? and AI are likely to replace 7% of all jobs in the U. It won’t just be blue-collar jobs operating factory machinery, either. ‘s podcast, editors and writers talk about how automation technology could replace 5 percent of jobs globally and how startup Circle Pay created the email for […]

Hutchins Roundup: Debt forgiveness, automated tasks, and more

Hutchins Roundup: Debt forgiveness, automated tasks, and more

Studies in this week’s Hutchins Roundup find that debt forgiveness policies mitigated some of the effects of the Great Recession, automation contributes to productivity less than it did in the past, and more.

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High levels of household debt played an important role in the Great Recession, implying that debt forgiveness policies might have been beneficial. Adrien Auclert of Stanford University, Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham of Yale University, and Will S. Dobbie of Princeton University use the large variation in state bankruptcy laws […]

Will technology really destroy jobs, or will it make working more fun?

Will technology really destroy jobs, or will it make working more fun?

According to the ONS, 1.5 million jobs are in danger of being in some way automated. But the ONS report does not tell the full story. The truth is, technology could have devastating economic consequences, or it could create the happiest workforce in history. Technology could destroy jobs, but it could put an end to tedium in the workplace. Roughly 200 years ago, the Luddites went around smashing up machines, so great was their fear that technology would destroy jobs; today we have academics and now esteemed compilers of statistics, such as the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) […]

Robots and AI Spell Change for Workers, Rather Than Replacement, per Cowden Associates

PITTSBURGH, Pa., March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — In late 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute released a report estimating that the relentless march of automation could eliminate up to 73 million jobs in the U.S. by 2030.[1] "Automation is certainly a factor in the future of the workforce," says Elliot Dinkin, a nationally known expert in actuarial , compensation , and employee benefits issues. "There are indications, however that its effect on downsizing may be less than what has been predicted. The largest corporate layoffs of this century to date, for example, seem primarily to have been caused not by […]

Addressing the people and productivity conundrum

Addressing the people and productivity conundrum

Laurence Wood discusses how the food industry’s reliance upon manual labour is likely to change in the near future requiring a greater uptake of robotics and automation to help the food industry increase productivity, quality and yield.

In recent years, many UK food manufacturers have relied heavily on EU nationals to bolster their workforce. Now, however we a decline in the number of EU nationals working in this sector. Furthermore, statistics from the Food & Drink Federation predict that food and drink manufacturing businesses will need to recruit an additional 140,000 individuals by 2024 to meet the demands […]