Tag: Technology

Links and quotes for June 16, 2017: Amazon’s business model, Musk on Mars, AI lawyers, and more

Why Amazon Has No Profits (And Why It Works) — a16z

Amazon is buying more than groceries with Whole Foods: it’s also getting more than 400 stores to use as delivery hubs — Recode Amazon’s $14 billion deal for Whole Foods gives it more than just groceries. It also gets it crucial real estate it needs to accelerate its delivery operations. Amazon took a big leap into the grocery industry when it announced its intention to buy Whole Foods for $14 billion. But the deal gives Jeff Bezos something else he craves: More than 400 brick-and-mortar stores that […]

Tourism is booming in the nation’s capital. So why aren’t hotel jobs?

Tourism is booming in the nation’s capital. So why aren’t hotel jobs?

At the Marriott world headquarters, the hotel operator has created an “Innovation Lab” to build prototype room arrangements that respond to the changing tastes and needs of customers. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post) Tourism is thriving in the nation’s capital, with the District’s visitors bureau declaring a record year for U.S. foot traffic in 2016. But at Washington’s hotels, hiring has been more or less flat for two decades.

The region’s hotel industry employs only about 5,400 more people today than it did in 1990, a tiny increase for a region the size of the Washington area. And when calculated […]

The jobs artificial intelligence will take over first

The jobs artificial intelligence will take over first

In the US, close to 15 million new jobs will be created over the next decade as a direct result of automation and artificial intelligence, according to estimates in a new report from Forrester Research The robotic revolution is set to cause the biggest transformation in the world’s workforce since the industrial revolution. In fact, research suggests that over 30% of jobs in Britain are under threat from breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

With pioneering advances in technology many jobs that weren’t considered ripe for automation suddenly are. PWC Data has revealed how many jobs per sector are at […]

The Robot Takeover Is Greatly Exaggerated

The Robot Takeover Is Greatly Exaggerated

There’s lots of fretting these days that automation will displace huge numbers of workers. It makes sense to be worried. Although adoption of machines in the past didn’t make human labor obsolete, there’s no guarantee that future technology will work the same. Maybe this is an issue in the long-term, but for now at least automation probably isn’t taking away many jobs.

To hear me confidently declare that may come as a surprise to some, given the steady flow of articles sounding the alarm about a new paper by Massachusetts Institute of Technology economists Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo. Entitled […]

In the Age of Automation, Where Will Workers Fit Into the Future of Manufacturing?

In the Age of Automation, Where Will Workers Fit Into the Future of Manufacturing?

Humans can’t execute simple tasks with the speed and consistency computers can. Humans can’t execute simple tasks with the speed and consistency computers can. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Humans can’t execute simple tasks with the speed and consistency computers can. Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

Just a few years ago, the prevailing strategy in labor-dependent industries was to move production offshore. Cheap overseas labor increased the competitiveness and profitability of a typical manufacturing business.But that strategy is becoming harder to justify. As automated machinery takes the place of human workers, the cost benefits of offshore production are diminishing quickly. Interestingly, today’s U.S. manufacturing output […]

Malaysia must make ready for ‘Industry 4.0’ now, say employers and businesses

Malaysia must make ready for ‘Industry 4.0’ now, say employers and businesses

The arrival of ‘Industry 4.0’ may mean that students today may not have jobs in the fields for which they are studying, or may lack skills and knowledge necessary for areas where there will be jobs growth. — AFP pic KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Malaysia must make clear preparations for the impending automation and data usage that will fundamentally alter the employment landscape in coming decades, said industry groups.

Looking ahead to the advent of “Industry 4.0”, the trend towards increasing automation of jobs and the use of data, as well as the National Transformation 2050 (TN50), they said […]

Malaysia must make ready for ‘Industry 4.0’ now, say employers and businesses

Malaysia must make ready for ‘Industry 4.0’ now, say employers and businesses

The arrival of ‘Industry 4.0’ may mean that students today may not have jobs in the fields for which they are studying, or may lack skills and knowledge necessary for areas where there will be jobs growth. — AFP pic KUALA LUMPUR, June 15 — Malaysia must make clear preparations for the impending automation and data usage that will fundamentally alter the employment landscape in coming decades, said industry groups.

Looking ahead to the advent of “Industry 4.0”, the trend towards increasing automation of jobs and the use of data, as well as the National Transformation 2050 (TN50), they said […]

Forget Coal, the Robots Are Really Coming For the Retail Jobs

Forget Coal, the Robots Are Really Coming For the Retail Jobs

IDFK303/Getty Images President Trump has indicated that retaining and restoring jobs in manufacturing and coal is a top priority for his administration. Automation is the biggest threat to those industries — but mining and manufacturing aren’t the only sectors under siege from the robots.

In fact, retail workers could be among the hardest hit by automation in the coming decade. Up to 47 percent of current retail workers could be replaced by machines over the course of the next 10 years, according to the results of an extensive study released last month. As many as 7.5 million workers could lose […]

The robots are coming: here are some jobs that won’t exist in 10 years

The robots are coming: here are some jobs that won’t exist in 10 years

The World Economic Forum forecasts that 5.1 million jobs will be lost to machines between 2015 and 2020. Photo: Sunny Lee The tech industry has already already embedding cognitive (conscious mental activities such as human thinking, understanding, learning) AI into a variety of products. Photo: Alamy AI is now at the centre of a myriad of real world applications, from facial recognition software and cybersecurity to more futuristic technologies such as autonomous self-driving vehicles. Photo: AFP An engineer holds the head of Samantha, a sex doll packed with artificial intelligence providing her the capability to respond to different scenarios […]

21st Century Automation: Is This Time Truly Different?

21st Century Automation: Is This Time Truly Different?

In recent years, a great deal has been written about the effect of automation on employment. On the one hand, the pessimists predict that we’re nearing a tipping point, where the wealth created by robots will be reserved for an elite few, while a permanent social underclass will remain forever unemployable. Alternatively, the eternal optimists portend that we are on the path to a post-scarcity world, and that the road ahead may be long, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. All in all, the optimists probably get a lot more right than the […]