Tag: software

Half of Aussies not convinced automation is good

Half of Aussies not convinced automation is good

The research, conducted by Nature on behalf of SEEK, found that less than half of Australians view automation and artificial intelligence (AI) as being “probably a good thing” (48 per cent and 46 per cent, respectively).

Of those that do, the main benefits were identified as increased efficiencies (47 per cent), less repetitiveness (46 per cent) and freeing up people’s time (35 per cent).

Surprisingly, it was not just younger adults who are more receptive to these technologies and more positive about their impacts: Baby Boomers (those aged 55 to 64 years), combined with Generation Z (those aged 18 to 24) […]

Adair Turner: ‘Every politician’s wrong about productivity’

Adair Turner: 'Every politician’s wrong about productivity'

‘Sometimes a useful role in public debate is to throw something deliberately provocative into the pond!’ Adair Turner is being provocative again. Almost a decade ago now he scandalised bankers and traders (although not the general public) when he declared the work of financiers to be “socially useless”.

A few years ago he made himself almost equally unpopular in central banking circles by suggesting they should consider monetising debt to rebalance their economies. Between Debt and the Devil by Adair Turner, book review

And now Baron Turner of Ecchinswell’s latest thesis is that politicians, everyone from the Chancellor Philip […]

The AI Survival Guide For Leaders

The AI Survival Guide For Leaders

Pexels Pexels Artificial intelligence’s takeover is not an impending possibility — it’s here. We use GPS without a thought, accept guidance from customer service bots, and our interests quickly turn into smartphone recommendations. From these experiences, I can’t help but connect the dots to the impact they will have on the passion I hold professionally dear: leadership.

These observations are just a subset of the impact of automation on leadership, and thus, this article will likely be the first of several that I will occasionally publish to share my reflections.

Real-Time Data On the surface, this is an already ubiquitous […]

Pitting people against technology is not the answer to future recruitment and retention. Training is.

Pitting people against technology is not the answer to future recruitment and retention. Training is.

Echoing our blog post earlier this week, Helen Jamieson points to training and upskilling as the way to combat automation. Reading time: 4 minutes The last two years has seen a rapid and fundamental shift in the way we work. Movements such as #metoo, the boom in zero-hours contracts , and a new regard for mental health has seen much-welcomed debate about working culture.

It has, however also given rise to a worrying trend of navel gazing, as employers seek to respond to the latest headline issue, rather than take the time to assess the direction of their workforce as […]

Is tech a friend or foe when it comes to workplace equality?

Is tech a friend or foe when it comes to workplace equality?

"It will be a challenge to develop software which is 100% unbiased and can truly contribute to workplace equality". Photo: iStock Analysis: an assessment of technology’s impact on gender pay gaps, equal employment opportunities and life/work balance

Topics such as the "future of work" , "Industry 4.0" and the "gig economy" have recently become almost ubiquitous in popular media. While debate about such topics is called for, one of the criticisms, which can be levelled at some of those to the fore of such discussions is the largely homogenous way in which these developments are discussed.

Technological advancement holds great […]

AI: More than robots in the factory

AI: More than robots in the factory

Fancy a free salary? No strings attached. Technology heavyweights, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Richard Branson all back Universal Basic Income (UBI). Graham Smith from Microsoft recruitment partner Curo Talent , explains why these policies aren’t simply the brain fodder of billionaires, but could become a reality due to advances in artificial intelligence.

UBI describes a cash handout, distributed to everyone, irrespective of a citizen’s employment status. The concept has long been supported by socialists, but the inequality of jobs caused by automation could make policies like this a necessity.

Reports by PwC estimate that robots could represent up to 30% […]

AI and Automation Will Replace Most Human Workers Because They Don’t Have to Be Perfect—Just Better Than You

AI and Automation Will Replace Most Human Workers Because They Don't Have to Be Perfect—Just Better Than You

Sawyer the Robot will work for the equivalent of $4 per day. And he’s never in a bad mood. Can you compete with that? Route 9 skims by Boston and cuts clear across Massachusetts to Pittsfield, a city of roughly 50,000, the largest in Berkshire County. Well east of Pittsfield, Route 9 becomes Worcester Road, named for a city that in earlier times was the nation’s largest manufacturer of wire—barbed wire, electrical wire, telephone wire and the wire used in the making of undergarments by the Royal Worcester Corset Co., once the largest employer of women in the United […]

How Singapore enterprises can rise to the digitalisation challenge

How Singapore enterprises can rise to the digitalisation challenge

These days, it is hard to avoid the topic of digitalisation when you read any expert commentary, business book, or newspaper headline. The benefits from technologies such as Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, Robotic Process Automation, and AI-enabled chatbots are clear: Firms can save costs from automating manual processes, gain deeper, real-time insight into their customers, and rapidly scale their reach to new markets. Yet, many enterprises are still concerned about how they can participate fully in a digital economy.

Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) are defined in Singapore as organisations with operating receipts of less than SGD 100 […]

Is Automation Really Taking All of Our Jobs Away?

Is Automation Really Taking All of Our Jobs Away?

It’s 2018. Technology is advancing exponentially and, as time goes on, becoming more and more integral to our lives. Machines are increasingly doing more work for us, but job creation has simultaneously been rising. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , nonfarm payroll employment increased by 213,000 in June 2018, and job growth occurred across professional and business services, manufacturing, and health care.

How jobs are still being created during technology’s takeover was a topic recently discussed in a TEDx talk with economist David Autor, who breaks down this paradox with two very interesting points:

The O-Ring – What […]

Inside the New Industrial Revolution

Inside the New Industrial Revolution

Each of these earlier revolutions is easy to measure in hindsight—tons of steel produced, number of automobiles on the road, the proportion of homes with a PC. Since we’re just at the start of this latest transformation, we can only try to find clues to the future by looking at the trends of the past decade, with the rise of the smartphone, the Internet of Things and cloud computing. WSJ Tech D.Live

What is tech’s way forward? Follow live updates from the conference as the leaders and luminaries from the worlds of tech, entertainment and media discuss our digital […]