Tag: software

Tech Optimists See a Golden Future—Let’s Talk About How We’ll Get There

Tech Optimists See a Golden Future—Let’s Talk About How We’ll Get There

Technology evangelists dream about a future where we’re all liberated from the more mundane aspects of our jobs by artificial intelligence. Other futurists go further, imagining AI will enable us to become superhuman, enhancing our intelligence, abandoning our mortal bodies, and uploading ourselves to the cloud.

Paradise is all very well, although your mileage may vary on whether these scenarios are realistic or desirable. The real question is, how do we get there?

Economist John Maynard Keynes notably argued in favor of active intervention when an economic crisis hits, rather than waiting for the markets to settle down to a more […]

The role of automation in the aging workforce

The role of automation in the aging workforce

Image Credit: 85Fifteen / Unsplash America is getting older . The Administration on Aging estimates that the segment of the United States population age 60 or older will increase to 22.2 percent in 2020. This change — driven by increased longevity and the demographic bulge of the baby boom — represents the biggest percentage point increase in the over-60 that America has ever seen. But what does this mean from an employment standpoint?

In the United States, a deep and youthful labor pool has been a differentiator for many years. In addition, there has been a real focus on ensuring […]

Truth, not myths should prevail over China-U.S. trade

Though repeating a lie creates the illusion of truth, yet myths, unlike the plain truth which is sustained by fact, can’t stand the test of time.

Washington has been adept at blaming other countries for its domestic woes and its recent trade offensive against China, to some extent, also falls into this category.

The Trump administration claims that since China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the United States has lost more than 60,000 factories.However, a quick fact-check will show that the reality is something else. Statistics indicate that the decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs is more of a […]

As automation threatens employment market, a look at the jobs that will be displaced

As automation threatens employment market, a look at the jobs that will be displaced

There is no denying that automation related job losses are in the news nowadays and they are also a reason for worry for many employees who are constantly concerned about their future in a rapidly changing work environment.

It is true that new technology creates jobs but automation will also hurt workers who are into routine and manuals jobs, according to an Asian Development Bank report.

The report added that new jobs will appear, but they may require skills that such workers do not possess. Further, as firms and industries adjust to new ways of producing and distributing goods and services, […]

What does automation mean for Asia’s job prospects?

What does automation mean for Asia’s job prospects?

This article was originally published by Devex and is republished with permission.

MANILA — Almost every industry talks about the potential of automation to boost productivity and cut down on production costs. But the new technologies spurring these incentives, such as robotics, are also posing threats — not just for unemployment, but also in widening the gap in worker opportunities and income inequality. Click here to see a larger version of the chart. Developing Asia’s industry and services sectors have generated about 30 million jobs annually over the past 25 years, according to the Asian Development Bank’s flagship report, […]

Guest Post — Perspectives on Automation and Employment

Guest Post -- Perspectives on Automation and Employment

Automation will have a global impact like nothing else we have ever seen. This is not to say that it is altogether a new idea. Decades ago, science minded dreamers from around the globe would paint philosophical dreamscapes that relayed a world built on the backs of human ingenuity. Starting in the early 20th century, automation introduced itself to the world in the form of massive materials factories that could speed up the productivity of workers and create form perfect products for mass consumption. These behemoths of the old world have become standard and ingrained into our minds […]

Artificial intelligence may do more harm than good for our quality of life

Artificial intelligence may do more harm than good for our quality of life

From the steam engine and automobile to electricity and the computer, dramatic paradigm shifts in society have coincided with monumental leaps in technology. Many predict the next leap will be artificial intelligence.

Up until now, almost all scientific breakthroughs have made the world a better place in the long run. Innovation is to improve quality of life, and people continue to work toward new innovations in the hopes of improving quality of life. Today, scientists have hit a crossroads where they have lost vision of the sole reason for scientific development. Although it is hard to believe in a time […]

Silicon Valley is belatedly acknowledging the value of human beings

Silicon Valley is belatedly acknowledging the value of human beings

Tech companies have long valued by investors for their ability to replace employees with technology. Now, alongside software and server farms, they are moving at a breakneck pace on find living, breathing human beings to staff their systems.

They’re doing so because of a high-profile series of failures of automation, which have prompted a wave of intense pressure from investors, the public, and governments.

Tesla’s highly automated production line failed to produce cars at the rate CEO Elon Musk promised, prompting questions about the electric-car maker’s solvency. Systems at Google’s YouTube failed to flag extremist and exploitative videos. Russian operatives have […]

When technology takes over jobs

HARARE – The old photographer, with an incredible little mop of fringe, grey-white hair around his balding, mottled scalp sits solo on a bench in the vast Harare Gardens Park.

He has the resigned look of one who knows that at his age life has stopped giving and only takes away.

But the rate at which life has been taking away even his profession of over four decades has been merciless and brutal.“Photography does not pay any more these days. These new technologies have taken our professions away,” he says, referring to how new technological advancements have ruined his otherwise lucrative […]

A Look Into The Future Of Finance

A Look Into The Future Of Finance

The financial sector has seen a whirlwind of changes over the past few decades. The financial crisis of 2008 led to major restructuring, massive new regulation and a heavy focus on compliance in finance. Today there is a different trend in finance. It involves technology, and it has led to a new term called fintech or financial technology to be more precise.

Nguyen Trieu is a finance professor and businessman who deals with finance and technology. He predicts that the next decade in finance will be focused on the merging of finance and technology in what he coins fintech. Nguyen […]