Tag: Technical

Machines vs Blue-Collars: Jobs on the Line as the Power Struggle Intensifies

Artificial Intelligence has been at the forefront of the technological revolution for many years now. Manufacturing, IT, health and other industries have been gripped by emerging technologies in automation.

While the advancement has brought a respite in terms of cost and time, it has also thrown plenty of challenges for humans to think about and tackle. One such challenge is AI tech usurping blue-collar workers from their jobs, taking complete control.

The onus is on humans. If we aren’t smart enough with automation, it will, in fact, overthrow humans. But if we are, it can a boon and offer solutions for […]

The Three Civil Rights–Era Leaders Who Warned of Computers and Racism

The Three Civil Rights–Era Leaders Who Warned of Computers and Racism

When the internet turned 50 last year, there was much to celebrate. It proved to be a powerful platform from which to mobilize millions to fight for racial, economic, and social justice, through movements such as Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring, and Black Lives Matter. It has also given us a million different ways to escape, chill out, and give ourselves a much-needed break—from cat videos to Cookie Clicker (where I have amassed more than 55 million cookies in just the past week alone).

But the anniversary also gives us a reason to reflect. Computing and the internet have […]

New tech has a positive impact on job creation in 2020, survey reveals

New tech has a positive impact on job creation in 2020, survey reveals

New technologies are expected to create more jobs in 2020, according to independent research by recruiter Robert Half.

While an earlier report by McKinsey & Company indicates that new technologies are expected to automate 25% to 46% of existing Australian workforce activities by 2030, the survey findings indicate that the rise of machines isn’t simply taking away jobs, but rather changing the definition of existing roles and creating new ones.

The survey also sheds light on the optimism of Australian business leaders about the impact of technology on job creation compared to their global counterparts.According to the Robert Half survey, almost […]

It is time to stop agewise employment discrimination

It is time to stop agewise employment discrimination

Representational image | Pixabay Of all the numerous kinds of employment discrimination, hiring younger workers in preference to older ones earns the least public condemnation. That’s a growing problem, not just because equality is increasingly prominent on the political agenda but because ageism makes less and less economic sense as birth rates go down and nations age.

Since 1950, the median age of the population has increased by 47% in Europe and by 29% in North America, and the trend isn’t about to change, according to the United Nations Population Division. In the coming decades, the UN expects Asia and […]

These are the most sought after skills worldwide, according to LinkedIn

These are the most sought after skills worldwide, according to LinkedIn

Blockchain, analytical thinking and cloud computing are the most sought after skills worldwide, according to LinkedIn, a professional networking site.

The social media platform said the rapid technological advances offer opportunities for professionals in the field of artificial intelligence and scientific computing.

And the massive spread of customer data drives demand for employees who can analyze and interpret tons of information.According to Sean Gallagher, director of the Swinburne University New Work Center, workers will need both technical expertise and strong interpersonal skills to be successful in their future jobs.“In order for workers to succeed in a digitally changing workplace, i.e. in […]

Automation and the working class

Automation and the working class

Difference engine According to one account in 2013, 47% of jobs in the USA risk being automated away within “a decade or two”.[1] That prospect has been interpreted as utopia or as dystopia. The near future will be one of networked individuals freed from drudgery by automation, and able easily to get what they want to consume and to undermine all hierarchies. Or: only a techno-elite will retain employment and wages. The rest of us will be reduced to a new pauper class vegetating on “universal basic income” handouts.

Further research has queried the projections. Many tasks can be automated, […]

PREPARING FOR FUTURE EMPLOYMENT IN THE AGE OF AI

PREPARING FOR FUTURE EMPLOYMENT IN THE AGE OF AI

Does life imitate art? There are several movies that have possibly provided a glimpse of what might end up happening in the future world. They all deal with AI (Artificial Intelligence) and/or Robotics. The movies are categorized as science fiction, but as we watch what’s happening around the world, they could conceivably be called “science faction.”

The Matrix franchise posits that we live in a simulated universe wherein machines in the future have taken over the world. The “chosen one,” played by Keanu Reeves, fights against this future. There are at least three Matrix movies with a fourth one in […]

My Say: ‘So-so’ technologies and Malaysia in the 2020s

My Say: ‘So-so’ technologies and Malaysia in the 2020s

This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on January 6, 2020 – January 12, 2020. Last autumn, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) published a report entitled, “The Work of the Future: Shaping Technology and Institutions”. This report comes amid an increasing landscape of technological buzzwords, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, mass digitalisation and my personal favourite, The Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It is in this landscape of technological buzzwords that many, myself included, have spilt printer ink on a whole variety of issues, such as technology as a solution to all our societal […]

The changing nature of work

The changing nature of work

As technology advances, firms adopt new methods of production, markets expand, and societies evolve. Firms rely on new technologies to better use capital, overcome information barriers, outsource, and innovate. Workers, firms, and governments are building new comparative advantages as conditions change. For example, by being the first to adopt 3-D technologies, Danish firms strengthened their hold on the global market for hearing aid products in the 2000s.

The Indian government invested in technical universities across the country, and subsequently India became a world leader in high-tech sectors. By integrating into global value chains, Vietnamese workers developed their foreign-language abilities, building […]

The changing nature of work

The changing nature of work

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Features As technology advances, firms adopt new methods of production, markets expand, and societies evolve. Firms rely on new technologies to better use capital, overcome information barriers, outsource, and innovate. Workers, firms, and governments are building new comparative advantages as conditions change. For example, by being the first to adopt 3-D technologies, Danish firms strengthened their hold on the global market for hearing aid products in the 2000s.

The Indian government invested in technical universities across the country, and subsequently India became a world leader in high-tech sectors. By integrating into global value chains, Vietnamese workers developed […]