Tag: Services

Herb Van Fleet: The paradox of robotic labor

Herb Van Fleet: The paradox of robotic labor

Amid the shrill and irritating noise of politics these days, there have been a few news stories reporting on the progress of robotics, especially robotic cars. Robots are just one of the engineering outgrowths that are part of artificial intelligence and high-tech automation systems. Besides cars, their applications run the gamut from the military, to manufacturing, to health care, to agriculture, to running the vacuum and cleaning the house. And engineers are hard at work finding and developing other artificial intelligence applications.

For private sector businesses, artificial intelligence and its emergent technology provide a path to higher profits while maintaining […]

Automation for the People: The Public, Technology and Jobs

Automation for the People: The Public, Technology and Jobs

A 2012 research brief by Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee at MIT renewed an old debate over the effect of new technologies on employment levels. They argued that, counter to the prevailing belief that new technologies and automation simply shift jobs into new sectors after a period of disruption, instead rapid improvements in technology over the past decades have left some workers completely behind, a trend that will continue to accelerate as computers capabilities expand. But what does the public think? Do Americans see technological threats to employment, and have their views changed since the days when robots first […]

Future economy needs future-ready social safety net

Future economy needs future-ready social safety net

As job insecurity looms in a world of churn, we need to attend to the well-being of citizens too

As a consumer, I love start-ups. Airbnb, Uber and car-sharing apps transformed my vacation experiences, opening up cheaper – and more interesting – accommodation and transport options. You can live in someone’s lovely house, get to know them and their family, drive a neighbour’s car, order food in when you feel like it, and even make new friends instantly via social meet-ups.

In Singapore, I use Uber, Grab and food-delivery platforms. I order food in restaurants from iPads. (Smartphone QR code […]

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

In a recent interview, Microsoft (msft, 0.00%) founder Bill Gates proposed that robots should be taxed. He anticipates that robots will replace large numbers of workers over the next 20 years. By taxing the robots, he argued, we would slow down the pace of automation and the funds raised could be used to retrain and financially support displaced workers, who could then move into new jobs in health care, education, or other areas where human labor is needed.

While Gates is right that robots—not just traditional industrial robots, but all sorts of artificial intelligence applications—are indeed likely to automate a […]

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

Bill Gates Is Wrong That Robots and Automation Are Killing Jobs

In a recent interview, Microsoft (msft) founder Bill Gates proposed that robots should be taxed. He anticipates that robots will replace large numbers of workers over the next 20 years. By taxing the robots, he argued, we would slow down the pace of automation and the funds raised could be used to retrain and financially support displaced workers, who could then move into new jobs in health care, education, or other areas where human labor is needed.

While Gates is right that robots—not just traditional industrial robots, but all sorts of artificial intelligence applications—are indeed likely to automate a lot […]

New jobs for the brave new world

New jobs for the brave new world

Representational image: A student makes a robot during World Robot Olympiad in Kolkata The transformation of the Indian Information Technology (IT) sector from a $5 billion industry contributing just over 1% of India’s GDP in the late nineties to a $150 billion behemoth currently, making up almost 8% of India’s GDP, should arguably be the biggest success story of modern Indian economic history.

The huge talent pool of low cost, skilled, English-speaking engineers encouraged every global technology giant to set up their services and back-end operations in India. Currently, the Indian IT industry directly and indirectly employs a population of […]

Will US Workers Have Right Skills for Jobs of the Future?

Will US Workers Have Right Skills for Jobs of the Future?

President Donald Trump arrives to hold a meeting with manufacturing CEOs at the White House in Washington, Feb. 23, 2017. WASHINGTON —

President Donald Trump told the heads of more than 20 of the largest U.S. manufacturers Thursday that he planned to bring millions of factory jobs back to the United States.

Trump said the United States had lost one-third of its manufacturing jobs since the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed, and that 70,000 American factories had closed since China joined the World Trade Organization. FILE – Arms from a robotic welder simulate welds on a piece of metal […]

Elon Musk, Bill Gates Warn About Robots Taking Over Jobs, But Study Says People Aren’t Worried

Elon Musk, Bill Gates Warn About Robots Taking Over Jobs, But Study Says People Aren't Worried

Recently, tech leaders including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and billionaire Bill Gates warned about robots taking over jobs. However, a new report shows people are not that concerned about job automation.

The report The Robots Are Coming, But Not For Me , is based on an online survey of more than 2,000 adults commissioned by consumer engagements firm LivePerson last month.

Although experts agree robots, artificial intelligence and automated technology will have at least some effect on global economies, the majority of people think they’ll be alright but say other professionals will be affected by mass layoffs, the report found.Among those […]

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 […]