Search Results for: automation

Global economy faces an immediate reskilling problem in the face of automation, claims Davos report

Global economy faces an immediate reskilling problem in the face of automation, claims Davos report

by • AI, News, Workplace

The global economy faces a reskilling crisis with 1.4 million jobs in the US alone vulnerable to disruption from technology and other factors by 2026, according to a new report, Towards a Reskilling Revolution: A Future of Jobs for All, published by the World Economic Forum. The report is an analysis of nearly 1,000 job types across the US economy, encompassing 96 percent of employment in the country. Its aim is to assess the scale of the reskilling task required to protect workforces from an expected wave of automation brought on by the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’. Drawing on this data for the US economy, the report finds that 57 percent of jobs expected to be disrupted belong to women. If called on today to move to another job with skills that match their own, 16 percent of workers would have no opportunities to transition and another 25 percent would have only between one and three matches.

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Automation will impact low paid jobs first because of the living wage, report claims

Automation will impact low paid jobs first because of the living wage, report claims

by • AI, News, Technology

The development of the living wage coupled with the growing automation of tasks could create a perfect storm that prices a growing number of people out of the jobs markets, a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies claims. The authors suggest that one of the unintended consequences of the increase of the rate to £8.50 by 2020 could be that people in low paid work could find themselves in competition for jobs with robots and artificial intelligence. The report concludes that there will be a tipping point at which human labour becomes economically unviable, although it does not predict when that will occur.

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Automation will benefit the economy but many people could lose out

by • AI, News, Technology

Around a third of all jobs in the UK are vulnerable to the introduction of robots, automation and artificial intelligence and the government must intervene to manage the transition and stop new technology driving up wage inequality, a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claims. Although the report suggests that the tech will have a generally beneficial impact on the economy, it warns that lower-skilled jobs are far more likely to be phased out over the coming decades, and only higher-skilled workers would generally be able to command higher wages.

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Up to 800 million jobs will be displaced by automation over next 13 years, claims McKinsey report

by • AI, News, Technology

Up to 800 million workers worldwide may find their jobs disrupted and displaced by robots and automation by 2030, around a fifth of the global labour force, according to a new report covering 46 nations and over 800 occupations carried out by McKinsey & Co. The report claims that all countries and nearly all roles will be affected to some degree. Even at the lower end of the forecast, 400 million workers could still find themselves displaced by automation and would need to find new jobs over the next 13 years. According to the study, only 5 percent of job roles consist of activities that can be fully automated. However, in about 60 percent of occupations, at least one-third of the constituent activities can be automated, implying substantial workplace transformations and changes for all workers.

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Deus ex machina; what will the coming era of automation and robotics mean for the workplace?

by • AI, Events, Facilities management, News, Technology, Workplace design

The only two things we know for certain about the era of robotics and automation in the workplace are that it will be with us far sooner than many of us expect, and its implications will be far reaching and unlike those most routinely anticipated. However, a clear picture is beginning to emerge about its implications for workplace designers and managers as well as property owners and workers themselves. On 23 November at an event hosted by Vitra in London, a panel of workplace and technology experts including Neil Usher, Kerstin Sailer and Mark Eltringham will present the most up to date thinking on the subject, challenge preconceptions and myths and illuminate a world that is just around the corner. If you’re interested in attending please email rsvp_uk@vitra.com. Full details below.

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One-fifth of UK jobs under threat from automation, but some regions more at risk than others

One-fifth of UK jobs under threat from automation, but some regions more at risk than others

by • News, Technology

Automation will affect one in five jobs across the UK, according to a new study from the thinktank Future Advocacy. According to the report, the risk of jobs being becoming automated is higher in some areas more than others and in the case of shadow chancellor John McDonnell’s west London constituency of Hayes and Harlington hits 40 percent, largely because it contains Heathrow Airport which employs a large number of people whose jobs are most at risk from automation. However, the report claims that a mere 2 percent of people surveyed were ‘very worried’ that they might be replaced by a machine, with a further 5 percent saying they were ‘fairly worried’.

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Major US surveys uncover ambivalent attitudes towards the impact of technology and automation on our lives

Major US surveys uncover ambivalent attitudes towards the impact of technology and automation on our lives

by • AI, News, Technology

The ambivalent attitude many people hold towards technology is laid bare in two major new studies from the Pew Research Centre. When asked to name what has brought about the biggest improvements in their lives over the last 50 years, technology is the most commonly cited factor by people across the US. They are even optimistic that technology will have a similarly beneficial impact over the next half century. Yet when asked about their specific attitudes towards artificial intelligence and automation in a second survey, many are apprehensive about the impact the technologies will have on their jobs and income.

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UK improves opportunities for young workers, but faces longer term challenges from automation

UK improves opportunities for young workers, but faces longer term challenges from automation

by • News, Workplace

The UK could boost GDP by £43 billion if it reduces the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) to match Germany, the best performing EU country. This is equivalent to a GDP increase of around £7,500 per 18-24 year old, according to estimates in PwC’s latest Young Workers Index. This year, the UK reached its highest position since the Index began in 2006, climbing to 18th out of 35 OECD countries from 20th last year. The UK’s improvement reflects lower youth unemployment and NEET rates as the economic recovery from the financial crisis has continued, but it still lags behind many other OECD countries, with Switzerland, Iceland and Germany leading the pack.

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Majority of workers are optimistic that automation will enhance their work life balance

by • AI, Flexible working, News, Technology, Workplace

Majority of workers are optimistic that automation will enhance their work life balanceUK workers are largely optimistic about the impact automation will have in the workplace, with three in four believing it will give them more time to concentrate on their primary job duties and work more flexibly, claims new research. Workfront’s annual State of Enterprise Work report, which aims to capture not only how work is being done and what challenges office workers see in the present, but also how they see current workplace trends playing out in the near future reveals that 84 percent agreed with the sentiment that “the use of automation in the workplace will let us think of work in new and innovative ways.” 82 percent expressed excitement at the chance “to learn new things as the workforce moves toward more automation;” and while the overwhelming view on automation was positive, around 2 in 5 (38 percent) feared that rising automation will place humans and robots in competition for the same jobs in the future.

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British organisations must step up to the challenges of artificial intelligence, robotics and automation

by • AI, News, Technology

A report published by the RSA think-tank has encouraged UK businesses to embrace artificial intelligence, automation and robotics. arguing that new technology has the potential to raise productivity levels, boost flagging living standards, and phase out ‘dull, dirty and dangerous’ tasks in favour of more purposeful and human-centric work. The Age of Automation report warns, however, that the UK is fast becoming a ‘laggard’ in the adoption of new machines and called on UK business leaders to accelerate their take-up of technology. The RSA found that sales of robots to the UK decreased over 2014-15, with British firms falling behind the US, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. A YouGov poll of UK business leaders, commissioned by the RSA, found that UK business leaders are currently wary of adopting AI and robotics, with just fourteen percent of firms currently investing in this technology or soon planning to. Twenty-nine percent of businesses believe AI & robotics to be too expensive or not yet proven and twenty percent want to invest but believe it will take several years to ‘seriously adopt’ the new technology.

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Potential job creation will replace only fifth of jobs lost to artificial intelligence and automation

Potential job creation will replace only fifth of jobs lost to artificial intelligence and automation

by • AI, News, Technology

The debate surrounding the threat from artificial intelligence (AI) and automation leading to the loss of jobs has been highly publicised. Most recently, tech titans Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have locked horns over the issue, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has estimated that by the early 2030’s 30 percent of British jobs will be lost to automation. Job meta-search engine Joblift has analysed the field of automation and AI in the UK, comparing potential job creation with jobs lost by the early 2030’s. Its meta-analysis based on jobs listings and the research from PwC suggest that newly created positions in the field of AI and automation would only replace around 19 percent of the jobs lost to robotics.

 

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Automation and data need radically new systems of governance according to scientists

Automation and data need radically new systems of governance according to scientists 0

by • AI, News, Technology

automationThe current framework for governing automation and the management and use of data cannot keep pace with technological advances, according to a new report by the Royal Society and the British Academy. The report calls for the establishment of a new, independent body to steward an overall framework that can safeguard public confidence and ensure that the potential benefits of data use such as improved public services, better healthcare and business innovation are fully realised. The two National Academies convened leading figures from the Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences to undertake a detailed review of the current governance landscape for data usage and management. Data Management and Use: Governance in the 21st Century found that data usage, data collection and management are increasingly intertwined, and new ways of using data make it difficult to define which data is sensitive.  It found that, while the current governance architecture provides a lot of what is needed to deal with these challenges, there are clear gaps and too many silos, such that tensions between how individual and collective benefits and risks are negotiated are not always identified and addressed in a transparent and inclusive way.

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