Tag: Technology

Industry leaders to speak at Robotics Conference

Industry leaders to speak at Robotics Conference

The Robotics and Automation Exhibition includes a comprehensive conference programme that includes presentations from industry leaders such as Amazon, Ocado and DHL, as well as innovators in robotics technology including ABB, SP Technology, Dematic, and Tharsus. The full programme is shown below:

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME: WEDNESDAY 10TH OCTOBER

10.00: Opening keynote The next revolution in warehouse automation; Picking and Packing* Picking and packing a 50,000+ range of items that are available in the grocery domain* Work on-going at Ocado to address this challenge, using generalisable robotic systems* Adapting to deal with all of the variability and problems that […]

Gen Z faces ‘tectonic forces’ as it enters workforce

Gen Z faces ‘tectonic forces’ as it enters workforce. Patrick Commins AFR Woodcut Every new generation shapes, and is shaped by, the economy they inherit.

The oldest of the cohort of Australians born between 1994 and 2000 – so-called Generation Z, at least by the rubbery standards applied by marketeers playing demographers – have now started careers and probably begun contemplating how their hopes and dreams line up with the opportunities available to them today.

At first blush, the picture looks rosy. The country has not suffered a recession in 27 years. Indeed, nobody under 45, and relatively few under 50, […]

No, Robots Are Not Taking Away Your Jobs, They Are Making Them More Humane

No, Robots Are Not Taking Away Your Jobs, They Are Making Them More Humane

Image source: GE Reports There’s no dearth of doomsday theories where it’s speculated that artificial intelligence would slowly take over the entire world — starting with jobs and sources of employment. While experts say that many jobs will be affected — not necessarily reduced — by AI, it all boils down to how wisely we allow technology to have an impact on us.

For example, robots can help reduce the mundane and repetitive tasks, which can help explore human skills like empathy and creativity in effective ways. Automation can provide in routine work and put humans to the work that […]

REPEAT: MNI INTERVIEW: Fed’s Harker: Automation No Job Killer

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The impact of automation on jobs could be neutral over the long run, but machine learning and other new technologies threaten to exacerbate income inequalities and leave less advantaged workers behind, Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank president Pat Harker told MNI in an interview.

A new report co-authored by Harker and published Wednesday by the Philadelphia Fed urges policymakers, companies and educational institutions to work together to smooth large-scale workforce transitions over coming years.

It finds that with sufficient economic growth and productivity gains, there could be enough new jobs created to accommodate workers displaced by automation, but the […]

Imperial showcases AI prowess to Conservative and Labour Party conferences

Imperial showcases AI prowess to Conservative and Labour Party conferences

Professor Nick Jennings (right) and Zeno speaking on Professor Nick Jennings, Zeno the robot and Dr Declan O’Regan met political leaders in Liverpool and Birmingham this month.

Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) Professor Nick Jennings spoke on a Royal Society panel at both party conferences, discussing artificial intelligence (AI), automation and the future of work. He was joined by Zeno, a robot that utilises AI to replicate the facial expressions of humans.

The panels, entitled ’How long until we have a robot for PM? Are the predictions about the future of work getting ahead of reality?’ featured speakers from academia, think tanks […]

Unions Battle Bots With Education, Retraining in Contracts

Unions Battle Bots With Education, Retraining in Contracts

Transportation workers created a statewide coalition to fight driverless buses when Columbus, Ohio, debuted an automated shuttle in September.

Automation was also among the concerns expressed by the tens of thousands of hospitality workers in Las Vegas who threatened a strike in June.

And during Longshoremen contract talks in 2014, the main obstacle was the expansion of technology that at some ports was replacing up to half of the workers with robots.The message in all three cases was clear: Unionized workers don’t want to be replaced by automation. And as technology enters the workplace with increasing speed, that message may grow […]

From Reindeer to Robots, Automation Set to Deliver This Holiday Season

From Reindeer to Robots, Automation Set to Deliver This Holiday Season

“It’s a fight for talent…It’s like ‘Game of Thrones’ out there,” Erik Caldwell, chief operating officer for supply chain in the Americas and Asia Pacific at XPO Logistics Inc., XPO 3.02% said at an industry conference earlier this year, discussing the company’s use of robots to fulfill online orders. Also in Logistics

The use of robotics and other automation technology in industrial operations is growing, although the vast majority of warehouse work remains largely manual. About 16.5% of organizations across several industries including warehousing are now using commercial service robots, and 21.5% have them in pilots, according to a […]

Artificial intelligence will lead to a ‘positive shift in the work people do’

Artificial intelligence will lead to a 'positive shift in the work people do'

The debate around artificial intelligence and jobs won’t go away. However, the most likely outcome of AI — looking at other industrial revolutions — will be a positive shift in the nature of the work people do ‘Without ambition and creative thinking, we won’t be able to apply AI effectively to the problems that we face’. The threat of AI to jobs — it is a debate that won’t go away. The Bank of England and the World Bank Chief are only two voices, in a growing network, that are concerned by the rise of AI and the loss […]

Your next job interview could be with a robot

Your next job interview could be with a robot

AndreyPopov | iStock | Getty Images There’s a lot of talk lately about robots taking our jobs.

Estimates predict that the number of jobs lost to automation within the next decade could be a million in the U.S. alone.

But what about the new job opportunities they could create? Advocates say that the number of positions created by technological developments will far outweigh those taken away .The recruitment industry is front and center to that disruption from automation.Increasingly, employers are using robotics to speed up the recruitment process and free up hiring managers’ time for more complex tasks, while removing human […]

Automation is transforming economy — Mark K. Allen

Automation is transforming economy -- Mark K. Allen

The Sept. 18 article in the State Journal "Machines seen dominating work by 2025" stated that automation will dominate the workplace in a few short years. That should grab everyone’s attention.

In about six years, over half the workplace jobs will be done by machines. While our attention is directed at globalization and immigrants, the real challenge we must address is the impact of technology on employment. We have already accepted that factory workers can be replaced by robots. It’s not difficult to see that truck drivers will not be needed in a world with self-driving vehicles.

It may be more […]