Tag: Services

Magazine excerpt: The fourth industrial revolution

Magazine excerpt: The fourth industrial revolution

Will any of today’s jobs still exist in 20 years? Will automation rewrite all our futures? The so-called fourth industrial revolution has profound implications for the world of work – and therefore the role of learning and development. We’re already used to robots undertaking repetitive manufacturing tasks, and smart applications determining our credit ratings, autopiloting planes and delivering functionality to our mobile devices. The next waves of development will see the combination of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, big data, and cloud services.

The combined effect of these technologies creates the opportunity for machines to interact with humans by providing services […]

America, we still have a jobs problem

America, we still have a jobs problem

Biggest job gains were in these sectors … 01:31 Jeffrey Sachs is a university professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN)For those with a college degree or above, life is good. Jobs are plentiful, incomes are rising, inflation is low, health is broadly improving, and the impacts of the new information technologies — from smartphones to e-commerce to ubiquitous information — are generally beneficent. For those without a college degree, the situation is starkly different. Earnings are low and often lagging behind inflation. Health conditions of […]

The digital divide: why the skills gap must be addressed to tackle inequality

Automation anxiety: the role technology is playing in rising inequality has become a hot topic

In 1821, the eminent political economist David Ricardo remarked: “The substitution of machinery for human labour is often very injurious to the interests of the class of labourers… [it] may render the population redundant and deteriorate the condition of the labourer.” Little over a century later, John Maynard Keynes identified a similar predicament: “Technological unemployment… [is an issue born of] our discovery of means of economising the use of labour outrunning the pace at which we can find new uses of labour.”

Fast-forward another century and […]

How can Britain solve its productivity ‘puzzle’?

How can Britain solve its productivity 'puzzle'?

When analysts and business commentators talk about economic productivity the understandable reaction of most people is to switch off.

As obscure, abstruse economic concepts go, productivity is right up there. No one really – not even economists – really understands why it goes up and down, but all are convinced it’s very important indeed.

But maybe we should all be taking more interest in the concept. Leaving aside debates about inequality and relative poverty, the real determinant of the prosperity of a population over time is probably its productivityThe UK’s comparatively poor productivity rate, which according to the latest figures has […]

AI Chatbots are Create New Jobs by Killing the Old Ones

AI Chatbots are Create New Jobs by Killing the Old Ones

artificial-intelligence 1920×1080 Whenever technologies advance, there is often a fear that the newer, faster machines will replace human workers for good, leaving an unemployed populace and a devastated economy in its wake. The fear was there with the invention of steam power machines, the assembly line, computers and now AI and chatbots are at the root of that fear.

As AI and chatbots become more popular each day in the fields of finance, health, law, and retail, workers are wondering how soon it will be before they lose their jobs to the latest machine. This is true particularly in customer […]

As Nigeria left it too late!

As Nigeria left it too late!

Unemployment in Nigeria On May 31, 2017, the news broke that the Federal Government of Nigeria had established an Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council. This is a welcome development but it begs the question of whether or not the move came too late game of creating the millions of jobs Nigeria needs. On the one hand, it is almost impossible to ascertain the utility of the decision but it is very possible, even imperative, to examine the development and forecast its possible impact on the expected outcomes, especially job creation.

The economic model that Japan, China, South Korea and […]

Jobs of the future

Jobs of the future

India’s economic growth and social progress have been impressive since Independence. Experts agree that, going forward, India could achieve even more in both the spheres. The fact remains that, over the years, the momentum of growth and poverty alleviation has gathered pace, driven by concerted reforms and strong roots of democratic and multicultural commitments. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that India will, hopefully, avoid the middle-income trap in order to eradicate poverty in two more generations. This expectation is based on India’s post-Independence record and assuming that there are no unmanageable catastrophes, such as social upheaval or successive […]

Lesson from the cupcake ATM: Better to be a baker than a seller

Lesson from the cupcake ATM: Better to be a baker than a seller

Sprinkles, a chain of bakeries, has installed 15 or so cupcake ATMs around the US. Beyond providing on-demand desserts at any time of day or night, these machines also hold a valuable lesson for workers who fear that robots will take their jobs.

The lesson: don’t become a cupcake seller.

Prestige Economics founder Jason Schenker thinks “kioskification” and related trends in the service industry are just getting started. In the cupcake world, that means the baker should focus solely on making the cakes. The ATM, meanwhile, handles the simple, repetitive task of selling them, freeing up bakers to focus on developing […]

Robots predicted to force millions out of jobs

Robots predicted to force millions out of jobs

The world is has been warned: start planning for the eventual take-over of robots in the workplace, or risk a major jobs crisis.

A key figure in the Australian jobs market has delivered a dire warning, saying that the rate at which robots replace humans in the workplace will start an employment crisis.

The chief executive of Seek, said Aussie companies were in a position to lose, in an age when threats and opportunities from disruption were posing a challenge to all industries.Speaking to The Australian, Andrew Bassat urged policymakers and the media to urgently start this dialogue, and […]

Is India Ready for End to End Autonomous Mobility?

Is India Ready for End to End Autonomous Mobility?

Anuj Kapuria

Anuj Kapuria is the Founder & CEO at Hi-Tech Robotic Systemz Ltd and the Co-chair of Robotics Society of India.

More From The Author >> Be it self-driving cars or autonomous mobility in other spheres, as the nation makes rapid strides in infrastructure development and modernisation, it should soon be ready for autonomous vehicles. Autonomous Mobility has been making increasing inroads across many domains globally. In such a scenario, the traditional fear has been that automation will take away human jobs. But as empirical evidence demonstrated after the Industrial Revolution, while some job categories became redundant, […]