Tag: Technology

Endangered by Automation? Race and Education Are Factors

Endangered by Automation? Race and Education Are Factors

When it comes to robots taking human jobs, where you live, your race and education level matter. The likelihood of low- and mid-skill jobs being automated is increasing, according to a new study. Shutterstock/Pressmaster

(TNS) — Is a robot coming for your job?

That is more likely for Californians who work in Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced or Modesto, according to a report released Thursday by the Brookings Institution. Those who live in San Francisco or San Jose have a better chance of weathering a coming onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence.The new study by the Washington think tank suggests that intelligent […]

A good time to replace human workers with robots? When the next recession comes.

A good time to replace human workers with robots? When the next recession comes.

A robot named Marty cleans the floors at a Giant grocery story in Harrisburg, Pa., Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. On Monday, the Carlisle-based Giant Food Stores announced new robotic assistants will be arriving at all 172 Giant stores by the middle of this year. The chain’s parent company says it plans to eventually deploy the robots to nearly 500 stores. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) Matt Rourke / AP Robots’ infiltration of the workforce doesn’t happen gradually, at the pace of technology. It happens in surges, when companies are given strong incentives to tackle the difficult task of automation.

Typically, those incentives […]

Brookings: Food Service Jobs for Humans in Jeopardy as Automation Takes Hold

Brookings: Food Service Jobs for Humans in Jeopardy as Automation Takes Hold

Photo by Andy Kelly on Unsplash The Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program released a new report yesterday on the future and impact of automation on the U.S. workforce. Predictably, food service jobs do not fare well.

Automation and Artificial Intelligence: How machines are affecting people and places forecasts automation trends across industries through 2030. From that report:

Approximately 25 percent of U.S. employment (36 million jobs in 2016) will face high exposure to automation in the coming decades (with greater than 70 percent of current task content at risk of substitution). Among the industries with the greatest share of tasks […]

Automation is a bigger threat, depending on race, education and where you live, among other factors

Automation is a bigger threat, depending on race, education and where you live, among other factors

Is a robot coming for your job?

That is more likely for Californians who work in Riverside, San Bernardino, Merced or Modesto, according to a report released Thursday by the Brookings Institution. Those who live in San Francisco or San Jose have a better chance of weathering a coming onslaught of automation and artificial intelligence.

The new study by the Washington think tank suggests that intelligent machines may well take over many more tasks from humans in the future. But it forecasts dramatic differences among cities, occupations, ethnic and racial groups, educational levels and age groups."California turns out to have super-stark […]

The Trade War Is a Farce

The Trade War Is a Farce

Trump Xi As the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting continues in Davos, Switzerland, this week, discussions around global trade, the future of advanced manufacturing, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution are at an all-time high. In particular, the popular news media has been making a daily diet talking about the U.S. trade war with China.

Unfortunately, they are missing the real story: the potentially profound effects of reshoring on U.S. manufacturing and on the widening skills gap.

A few reports are seeing the fumes of the real story but miss the overall point. News articles have surfaced about the success of […]

Don’t Hit Snooze on Brookings Automation Alarm But Don’t Stress Out, Either

Don't Hit Snooze on Brookings Automation Alarm But Don't Stress Out, Either

The new Brookings Institution report on how automation will impact various employment sectors concluded with a set of suggested economic initiatives aimed at "mitigating coming stresses" as America moves into the age of AI.

Few could argue against investments in education and skills-retraining; and certain "uniquely human qualities" are of course worth fostering (although most universities are deemphasizing humanities).

So which of our qualities win the future of employment? It’s a question with which society has been grappling since the start of the Industrial Revolution. Any stressed-out workers in the most vulnerable occupational groupings — production (including manufacturing), food service, transportation […]

The Effect of AI Across the US and How to Adjust

The Effect of AI Across the US and How to Adjust

New Brookings study says the potential effects will “vary significantly across occupations, regions, and demographic groups,” so policymakers have a lot to do to adapt to the new reality.

Whatever you look artificial intelligence is present. In order to get a handle on how and where this technology, and automation in general, will impact U.S. workers, the Brookings Institute analyzed data in a variety of industries, geographies, and demographic groups across the country.

“The next phase of automation, increasingly involving AI, seems like it should be manageable in the aggregate labor market, though there are many sources of uncertainty,” said Mark […]

Brookings Says a Quarter of U.S. Jobs To Be Automated Soon

Brookings Says a Quarter of U.S. Jobs To Be Automated Soon

The report from the Brookings Institution released on Thursday drew lots of attention, most of it positive. Its conclusions were condensed into a single sentence: “Approximately 25 percent of U.S. employment (36 million jobs in 2016) will face high exposure to automation in the coming decades.”

In the past this was cause for much hand-wringing and calls for more government training for people working in low-skilled positions to prepare them for the brave new world of automation and artificial intelligence. Instead what is remarkable is how the U.S. economy is adapting to the changes taking place, and preparing for more […]

Automation to hit most jobs, but overall impact ‘muted’: Study

Automation to hit most jobs, but overall impact 'muted': Study

Artificial intelligence and automation will lead to job losses in "virtually all occupational groups" over the coming decades in the United States, but the overall impact on employment will be "muted," a prominent think tank study said Thursday.

"Almost no occupation will be unaffected by the adoption of currently available technologies," said the Brookings Institution study.

The researchers, examining some 800 occupations, concluded that roughly 25 percent of US employment, or 36 million jobs in the United States, would face "high exposure to automation" in the coming decades.But they also pointed out that automation and artificial intelligence "are increasingly looking like […]

Davos: why measures of economic progress must consider the quality of work on offer

Davos: why measures of economic progress must consider the quality of work on offer

Davos offers a place for the rich and not-so-famous to meet and exchange views on the present and future of capitalism . As in previous years, the theme of automation and the “fourth industrial revolution” has been a core of the 2019 meeting. The concern is over how technology might help to raise economic growth and add to prosperity.

Lip service, of course, is paid to wider social and ethical goals, but in truth the central concern is with the needs of the global economy. The worship of growth (measured by GDP) dominates proceedings.

But this focus diverts attention from what […]