Tag: Technology

Curriculum needs to change to help students navigate the rise of ‘smart’ technologies

Curriculum needs to change to help students navigate the rise of ‘smart’ technologies

UNSW Sydney academic calls for changes to the education system so future workforce can challenge artificial intelligence technology So-called ‘smart’ systems could cause great harm to individuals and the wider community if today’s students aren’t taught how to critically engage with them, a UNSW academic said.

Director of the Allens Hub for Technology, Law and Innovation and UNSW Faculty of Law Professor Lyria Bennett Moses has proposed updating the Australian curricula on statistics and modelling after being commissioned by the NSW Department of Education’s Education for a Changing World initiative to explore the implications of developments in AI and automation […]

Balancing Thailand’s healthcare resources: ageing, declining population, and medical tourism

Balancing Thailand's healthcare resources: ageing, declining population, and medical tourism

It’s been known for decades that Thailand is the home to the world’s most capable doctors and healthcare staff who can offer the best services, unlikely to be found anywhere else. Many famous Thai doctors have received their medical training in Western countries at renowned medical schools and institutions. They have accumulated their knowledge and experience along with the most advanced technology and techniques in healthcare. Coming back home from overseas studies, they have been able to gain more experience and reputation in their practice as specialists in many fields. There is still a lot of room to grow […]

Will Automation Decimate Rural Areas?

Will Automation Decimate Rural Areas?

News

A McKinsey report released last week finds rural areas will be the most negatively affected by the next wave of automation, but right- and left-leaning experts on technology and labor economics disagree, calling the report “speculative.”

According to McKinsey’s analysis, automation will hit rural areas hardest through shrinking wages and fewer job opportunities, partly because rural communities have lagged in economic development and growth compared to urban areas since WWII. Automation may displace nearly 40 percent of U.S. jobs by 2030 according to the report, and of the 512 counties that will see the most displacement (25 percent), 429 are […]

The Next Wave of Innovation Will Come From America’s Forgotten Communities

The Next Wave of Innovation Will Come From America's Forgotten Communities

Photo by Clément Falize on Unsplash In a New York Time’s article titled Tech Is Splitting the U.S. Work Force in Two , written by Eduardo Porter in February of this year, it was argued that the technology sector is breaking our economy in ways that are destabilizing our society, at large. In his piece, Porter argued that while the technology sector has promised a future where we’ll be capable of doing meaningful work we care about while being paid livable wages, we’re really just getting lulled into a world where robots do all the work and a small […]

The Robot Apocalypse Has Been Postponed

The Robot Apocalypse Has Been Postponed

DeAgostini/Getty Images

Like many non-Democrats with an interest in both public policy and supernatural religion, I have two favorite 2020 Democratic candidates: Marianne Williamson and Andrew Yang.

Williamson is interesting because she helps reveal the spiritual shape of political ideas. Yang is interesting because he’s eager to think well outside the existing policy consensus and propose ideas that don’t fit naturally into either party’s current box.But just as I don’t actually share Williamson’s specific theological perspective, I have a core disagreement with Yang: His biggest policy proposal, a guaranteed basic income for every American, is a response to a disruption that […]

Reskill to survive: Tech firms retrain staff on war footing

Reskill to survive: Tech firms retrain staff on war footing

Employees are being taught “new IT” skills such as digital, cloud and security, with artificial intelligence at the core. MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Indian IT and IT services companies, including the ones that have been in the news for layoffs , are reskilling employees on a war footing.

Companies such as Accenture , Infosys NSE -0.13 % , Cognizant , Tech Mahindra NSE -0.46 % , Mphasis NSE -1.39 % , among others, are making an effort to reskill and prepare employees for the future.

Accenture has reskilled 85% of its technology workforce in India in the last three years. Employees […]

What Amazon’s decision to retrain a third of its employees means for the future of work

What Amazon's decision to retrain a third of its employees means for the future of work

Amazon’s announcement that it will invest US$700 million to retrain 100,000 employees – a third of its U.S. workforce – in new technologies is the latest reminder that the much-heralded future of work is well underway.

Policymakers, analysts and scholars trying to discern the retailer’s motives and objectives chalked it up to a public relations move or the natural result of a tight labor market . Others deemed it standard retraining and investment .

Lost in the reaction, however, is what it means for the rest of us workers. As an expert in technology disruption , I believe the main message […]

DTI chief says retraining could offset job losses due to automation

DTI chief says retraining could offset job losses due to automation

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 22) — Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez on Monday allayed fears that millions of Filipino workers may lose job in the next few years due to automation.

Lopez said the use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, among others, will not “kill” jobs but will pave the way for new employment opportunities.

“Yes, we will lose jobs but it’s also a replacement.. in other words renaming of functions, there’ll be new functions, there’ll be affected.. those repetitive, low-skill types of of jobs that esentially they just have to […]

Are Robots Coming for Our Jobs? Careful, It’s a Trick Question

Are Robots Coming for Our Jobs? Careful, It’s a Trick Question

The robots are coming, and they’ll probably take your job when they get here.

Oh wait—have you heard that recently? As recently as, say, yesterday? In the news, or from a coworker, or in a sinister dystopian movie, maybe?

Sounding the alarm about job losses to automation has become commonplace—in fact, it’s more of a nonstop siren these days. Multiple Democratic presidential candidates are featuring their plans to combat Big Tech and solve technological unemployment as talking points of their campaigns. Dread of a robot-dominated future is mounting.One of the most widely-referenced and panic-inducing figures on the topic came from a […]

Will Agricultural AI Become the Future of Farming?

Will Agricultural AI Become the Future of Farming?

Welcome to Thomas Insights — every day, we publish the latest news and analysis to keep our readers up to date on what’s happening in industry. Sign up here to get the day’s top stories delivered straight to your inbox. While artificial intelligence is commonly employed within customer service, manufacturing, and retail, one sector that may not immediately spring to mind when one thinks of AI is agriculture. Nevertheless, farmers are increasingly relying on this technology to produce their crops.

Although America is in the lead when it comes to AI in agriculture , many farmers all over the world […]