Tag: Technology

Future work: why machines won’t generate mass unemployment

More than changing what jobs we do, automation is changing the way we do our jobs. AP by Andrew Charlton

Technological change has long been a source of anxiety for workers . Today, improvements in communications, robotics and machine intelligence are rekindling age-old concerns that technology will soon force millions of people out of work . But the doomsayers who claim machines will generate mass unemployment are misreading the signs.

Despite the recent spate of negative reports, the current speed at which machines are taking over human work is no faster than during past waves of technological change. The annual […]

Sleep Easy: New Workplace Tech ‘Won’t Decrease Employment’ – German Economist

Sleep Easy: New Workplace Tech 'Won't Decrease Employment' – German Economist

Annette Vorreiter decorates a dual arm robot maid by Japan’s Yaskawa Electric company during preparation of the Hanover industrial fair in Hanover, Germany, Friday, April 18, 2008 Many employees are fearful that technological advances and increasing digitalization represent a threat to their jobs; on the contrary, a German study has come to the reassuring conclusion that digitization "hasn’t decreased" unemployment and won’t do so in the near future, author Dr. Enzo Weber told Sputnik Deutschland.

The billion-dollar market in robots for industrial and service use is booming; by 2020, more than 1.7 million new industrial robots will be installed in […]

Chuka Umunna lays into “far left” plan for a universal basic income

Chuka Umunna lays into “far left” plan for a universal basic income

Chuka Umunna will today launch a lengthy attack on one of the key economic reforms demanded by supporters of Jeremy Corbyn and criticise plans put forward by the “far left”.

In a blunt speech, the former shadow business secretary will condemns proposals for a universal basic income (UBI) and say the policy represents a “counsel of despair” which would mean society is “washing its hands of responsibility the poor”.

The UBI, which aims to provide a regular sum of money to all citizens, irrespective of their financial situation, has been championed by the Green Party, as well as John McDonnell, who […]

Transformative automation is coming. The impact is up to us

“Our MIT President L. Rafael Reif wrote an excellent op-ed in the Boston Globe urging that we find ways to use technology to invent and improve the future of work. It serves as a call to action, one I hope we will now take up with gusto at MIT and elsewhere.”

By L. Rafael Reif

First published online in the Boston Globe In a recent Pew study , 72 percent of Americans report feeling either worried or very worried about “a future where robots and computers can do many human jobs.” Seventy-six percent believe that economic inequality will grow […]

Working with robots

Working with robots

Humanoid robot EMIEW3 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Japan. Jobs requiring social interaction and non-routine tasks cannot easily be replaced by machines. EPA PIC EVER since the German concept “Industry 4.0” was coined as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the term has become a buzzword penetrating public discourse in all walks of life.

Advanced robotics, autonomous cars and artificial intelligence (AI) are among major trends brought by 4IR.

While unprecedented technological advancements should instil some optimism for the future of human civilisation, the doom side of automation looms large.Whether today’s jobs will vanish as computers progress beyond human comprehension, […]

American public fears AI’s impact on employment, says Syzygy

American public fears AI’s impact on employment, says Syzygy

Over two-thirds (70 percent) of the American public fear artificial intelligence’s impact on employment, reveals a new study from digital company Syzygy. The impact of AI on our day-to-day lives has been a hot topic in IoT news of late. The wider public are aware that AI, robotics and automation are combining to shake up the world in which we live.

These are justifiable concerns that tabloid newspapers love to feed, with proclamations that the rise of robotics signals the end of humanity – especially when the likes of Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk weigh in on the subject.

It’s important, […]

Should developing countries fear the impact of automation on jobs?

Should developing countries fear the impact of automation on jobs?

Fears of technology-induced unemployment have penetrated media headlines and policy discourse in both advanced and developing countries. A water jet harvester works rows of romaine lettuce near Soledad, California, United States, 3 May, 2017 (Photo: Reuters/Michael Fiala). In 2017, economists Carl Frey and Michael Osborne concluded that 47 per cent of jobs in the United States were at high risk of automation. A range of replications and extensions have made similar claims. The World Development Report 2016 asserts that 68.9 per cent of jobs in India are at high risk — and that number remains at 42.6 per cent […]

Will real life Blade Runners be tax collectors?

Will real life Blade Runners be tax collectors?

In 1979, an innovative two-minute TV commercial gave Britain a glimpse of the future. Choreographed to music from Rossini’s Barber of Seville, hi-tech machines built the Fiat Strada. The tagline was Handbuilt by Robots . Humans were nowhere to be seen in the Turin factory where the ad was shot, but the film crew knew where the people were: outside, on picket lines protesting the loss of their jobs.

Fast forward nearly 40 years and “ the robots are coming, they want to replace us, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them” isn’t the plot of the second […]

AI is synonymous with job automation in the minds of American workers

AI is synonymous with job automation in the minds of American workers

Artificial intelligence may well pose an existential threat to humanity. But that’s not what worries the public. What worries them is jobs.

According to a new study conducted by my team at SYZYGY, 70 percent of the American public fear that AI will have a negative impact on employment in the US. On average, Americans in work today believe that 30 percent of their work could be replaced by AI-enabled automation technology within five years. And overall, when asked about what they fear most from AI, job automation is the number one ranked fear. Fears of job automation are not […]

Retailers Slash Holiday Season Hiring As E-Commerce Takes Toll

Retailers Slash Holiday Season Hiring As E-Commerce Takes Toll

As brick-and-mortar retailers struggle to remain relevant in the new world of e-commerce, they’re hiring fewer seasonal workers.

That’s according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which shows October employment gains fell 8% from last year – a result of fewer hiring announcements from companies like Walmart. The report shows that seasonal retail hiring has fallen each October since 2015.

“The shrinking job gains in retail during the holiday season are indicative of the changing consumer habits and overall transition the industry is experiencing,” John Challenger, the firm’s chief executive officer, said in the report. Online Shift More shoppers […]