Tag: software

Robots will put people out of work – and hope

Robots will put people out of work – and hope

A recent global news story highlighted a three-year partnership between Fieldwork Robotics and French canned vegetable producer Bonduelle to develop a cauliflower-picking robot. Bonduelle operates across more than 100 countries, while Fieldwork Robotics was cofounded by Martin Stoelen, a lecturer in robotics at the University of Plymouth.

Fieldwork Robotics has already collaborated with one of the United Kingdom’s biggest soft-fruit producers, Hall Hunter Partnership, to develop a raspberry-harvesting robot.

If you type “vegetable harvesting robot” or “fruit harvesting robot” into a search engine, you will discover that Fieldwork Robotics is no mere anomaly. From Japan to Spain, inventors are ploughing the […]

Trump’s Wild Claims Test Limits of Republican Loyalty

Trump’s Wild Claims Test Limits of Republican Loyalty

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s wild and unsupported claims of voter fraud have emerged as a high-stakes Republican loyalty test that illustrates the tug of war likely to define the future of the GOP whether he wins or loses.

There is a pervasive sense among current and former GOP officials that the president’s behavior is irresponsible if not dangerous, but a divide has emerged between those influential Republicans willing to call him out publicly and those who aren’t.

Driving their calculus is an open acknowledgment that Trump’s better-than-expected showing on Election Day ensures that he will remain the Republican Party’s […]

We’re Paying for Robots to Take Our Jobs. Seriously.

We’re Paying for Robots to Take Our Jobs. Seriously.

The US tax code encourages the replacement of human workers with robots, BU research says. Photo by Eric Krull/Unsplash BU’s Pascual Restrepo on how the tax code rewards businesses for automating

Science fiction like The Terminator franchise has created the enduring meme of malevolent robots overthrowing humanity. The notion that we’d actually pay for them to replace us is so far-fetched that even Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn’t imagined it. But the government has.

Through the US tax code, we’ve inched ever closer to Andrew Yang’s dreaded Robocalypse of automation sweeping the workplace, according to a recent paper cowritten by BU economist […]

How to turn 3 top tech hobbies into a career

How to turn 3 top tech hobbies into a career

If you’re looking for a new career, your tech hobbies may well point the way to the specialties you might want to explore. But, a word of warning, once you turn a hobby into work, it’s somehow less fun than it once was.

Maybe it’s the pressure of having to do things you like when you don’t feel like doing them. Maybe it’s having too much of a good thing. Nevertheless, if you’re doing something you already love, it helps to make the workday easier. If you’re into these three tech hobbies, they may be the basis for future employment […]

Hello, financial world: The CFO and artificial intelligence

Hello, financial world: The CFO and artificial intelligence

chevron_left Aaron Harris, CTO, Sage. Does artificial intelligence (AI) pose a threat to different types of employment?

In South Africa, with an unemployment rate of over 30%, these concerns are valid. Yet, AI is a broad church of different applications. Automating checkouts at supermarkets for efficiency can be counterproductive, as shoppers often enjoy interactions with sales staff.

If a CFO is still manually gathering data and pouring over the figures one line at a time, they are wasting an enormous amount of their capacity and professional potential.Only one in 10 CFOs believe AI will take their jobs. This ratio may contradict […]

Better Workforce Development Programs Are Undermined By Government Policy

Better Workforce Development Programs Are Undermined By Government Policy

Female technician guiding a young female trainee in a workshop Covid-19 has shaken up the U.S. economy. Millions of jobs have been destroyed, many permanently, as businesses and consumers adapt to the changes caused by the pandemic. People of all political stripes are calling for more workforce development programs to help workers gain the skills they need to succeed in our increasingly automated economy. Several businesses and non-profits are rising to the challenge, but too many proponents of workforce development fail to recognize how government policies undermine their efforts.

The threat of rampant automation is arousing many people’s newfound interest […]

How the U.S. tax code promotes ‘excessive automation’

How the U.S. tax code promotes 'excessive automation'

Technology can create jobs and economic growth. Yet there is also concern that newer technologies, like automation, are hurting workers — perhaps with encouragement from the U.S. tax code.

In a new research brief , MIT professorMIT PhD student Andrea Manera, and Boston University professor Pascual Restrepo argue that tax discrepancies between labor and capital encourage companies to automate while discouraging them from adding workers. Labor has been taxed at an average rate of 25% over the last few decades, while the average rate for capital — things like equipment, software, and buildings — has fallen to 5% in the […]

The jobs most threatened by automation because of Covid-19 — Quartz

The jobs most threatened by automation because of Covid-19 — Quartz

Workers hit hard by Covid-19 layoffs may be in for another blow: automation.

Many jobs lost to coronavirus-induced cutbacks are those at risk of being replaced by technology, like positions in the service sector. Because of this, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (pdf) believe the pandemic has likely accelerated the process of automation in a number of occupations.

“Automation is happening at a faster pace now,” author Lei Ding told Quartz. “Many jobs that could be replaced in the next 10 years—that’s happening in a few months, now.” Jobs affected by COVID-19 and at risk of automation According […]

The jobs most threatened by automation because of Covid-19

The jobs most threatened by automation because of Covid-19

Technology is coming. Workers hit hard by Covid-19 layoffs may be in for another blow: automation.

Many jobs lost to coronavirus-induced cutbacks are those at risk of being replaced by technology, like positions in the service sector. Because of this, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (pdf) believe the pandemic has likely accelerated the process of automation in a number of occupations.

“Automation is happening at a faster pace now,” author Lei Ding told Quartz. “Many jobs that could be replaced in the next 10 years—that’s happening in a few months, now.” Jobs affected by COVID-19 and at risk […]

How CIOs can convert Data Lakes into profit centres

How CIOs can convert Data Lakes into profit centres

It is the 2020s and Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Software are eating the world. To win with a data-driven strategy – CIOs must orient their data strategy to take advantage of the massive profusion of data and use these new technologies to harness and exploit it for competitive advantage. At the same time – financial and information governance are foundational – and getting them right is key to operating a sustainable and profitable data platform.

Increasing Revenue with Data Lakes

Most CIOs today are comfortable with traditional concepts of BI and Data Warehousing. These mature technologies have […]