Tag: Technology

New Research Says Automation May Not Threaten Jobs After All

Contrary to dominant narratives, machines will not be coming for every human’s job anytime soon. In fact, automation may even have a positive effect on unemployment.

In recent years, practically everyone has become familiar with the narrative that automation in the workplace will cost more and more hardworking people their jobs . Indeed, according to a Pew poll , a sizeable majority of Americans are aware of and concerned by automation-based job loss, with 65% of respondents agreeing that robots and/or computers will either “definitely” or “probably” do much of the work currently done by humans in the next […]

One Stat Shows America’s Shift From Manufacturing Cars To Manufacturing Nerds

Todd Fisher hugs an R2-D2 robot near an empty chair for his late sister, actress Carrie Fisher. [Photo: DAVID MCNEW/AFP/Getty Images] The U.S. automobile manufacturing industry has taken a backseat to Silicon Valley, as the top three tech companies had almost the same revenues in 2014 as the Detroit’s Big Three did in 1990, according to a McKinsey Global Institute report.

The American automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler — needed 1.2 million people to produce revenues of $250 million. In contrast, the biggest corporations in Silicon Valley, the colloquial term for the region and people within the tech […]

Should Whole Foods Employees Fear Amazon?

Should Whole Foods Employees Fear Amazon?

Employees at Whole Foods Market have expressed concerns over Amazon’s proposed acquisition of the grocery chain. Whole Foods is known for its inclusive decision making, good pay, and benefits. Grocery store employees expressed their fears to Reuters that Amazon’s profit-driven business model and inclination for automation may result in layoffs.

Bloomberg reports , via an anonymous source, that Amazon plans to implement technology to eliminate cashiers in order to cut costs. An Amazon spokesman disputes that report saying there are “no plans to use no-checkout technology to automate the jobs of cashiers at Whole Foods and no job reductions are […]

Robots are friends, not foes

Robots are friends, not foes

Popular movies like The Terminator have helped instill a certain level of fear that the introduction of robots into everyday life will lead to widespread unemployment and ultimately a planet-wide robot uprising that will spell the end of humanity as we know it.

In recent years, the complexity, range, and quantity of tasks that robots can execute is astounding, and already, different types of robotic automation are taking on new tasks in the workplace – from data entry to customer support. Naturally, there is fear that with the growing number of tasks that can be automated, there will soon be […]

Marching to Dystopia

(photo by helran) It wasn’t that long ago (October 2016) that federal Liberal Finance Minister Bill Morneau got into trouble when he said that Canadian youth need to “get used to” job churn — the crappy, short-term contract jobs with low pay and no benefits that are the hallmark of the “precariat” future. “We have to accept that,” Morneau pontificated.

Only days later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was heckled by participants at the Young Workers’ Summit organized by the Canadian Labour Congress in Ottawa. Several young people stood and turned their backs on Trudeau, a sign of their frustration over […]

Robots That Make 400 Burgers an Hour May Soon Take over Fast Food Restaurants

Robots That Make 400 Burgers an Hour May Soon Take over Fast Food Restaurants

Next time you go for a burger, it might not be a high school student that takes your order, rather an AI might ask if you want cheese on your patty. Introducing the BurgerBot. Invented by Momentum Machines , the bot is ready to totally change the way we know burgers.

You don’t need to worry about the line cook messing up your order any more. The BurgerBot is a totally automated burger creating machine! The machine can pump out 400 burgers an hour. But not just any 400 burgers, all the burgers can be made with fresh ground beef, […]

How you can protect your job from automation

Automation and the workplace is an issue that I’ve touched on extensively in the past year or so, and I’m broadly cynical about the doomsday scenarios that are proliferating at the moment, in no small part because of the dubious methodology many of the studies that underpin these ‘robots will take our jobs’ scenarios.

It would be churlish to believe that new technologies won’t impact the labor market though, and it will undoubtedly pay to be as agile and adaptive as possible.

A recent paper published in the European Journal of Personality examines the kind of traits we might consider developing […]

As Amazon purchases Whole Foods, don’t fear for the cashier. Fear for the supermarket

As Amazon purchases Whole Foods, don’t fear for the cashier. Fear for the supermarket

When Amazon announced its plan to pay $13.7 billion for Whole Foods Market last week, pundits wondered what it meant for the workers at Whole Foods’ more than 450 store locations.

Whole Foods’ infamously high prices are partly the result of its highly human approach to groceries. The stores post experts in every department and offers human service at specialty counters.

Amazon’s brick-and-mortar retail ambitions, meanwhile, have been focused around a technology that eliminates the need to interact with human employees at all . Instead, customers take products off of shelves and walk out of the stores. Amazon’s technology keeps tabs […]

Amazon’s Move Signals End of Line for Many Cashiers

Amazon’s Move Signals End of Line for Many Cashiers

Imagine this scene from the future: You walk into a store and are greeted by name, by a computer with facial recognition that directs you to the items you need. You peruse a small area — no chance of getting lost or wasting time searching for things — because the store stocks only sample items. You wave your phone in front of anything you want to buy, then walk out. In the back, robots retrieve your items from a warehouse and deliver them to your home via driverless car or drone.

Amazon ’s $13.4 billion purchase of Whole Foods, […]

Smart Machine Age Shifts the Future Workforce

Smart Machine Age Shifts the Future Workforce

Recently, I was invited to take a place on a Tech for Distribution Center (DC) panel during the annual Georgia Logistics Summit . We tackled some intriguing questions: During this time of technological change, what does the future work force look like?

What is the most important quality to look for when hiring?

Who will be best suited to carry the organization into the new smart machine age? The Center for Logistics Innovation , which is part of State of Georgia, puts together the summit. The Center is based out of same building where the Advanced Technology Development […]