Monthly Archives: April 2017

Armagh Observatory eyes automation move - BBC News BBC News The end may be in sight for one of the world's longest-running series of manual weather observations. After more than 200 years of tradition, Armagh ... and more »

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Armagh Observatory eyes automation move - BBC News - BBC News

If automation has played its part in rising structural employment and, for that matter, rising underemployment too (it may be a subjective test, but it says something that, according to a 2016 PayScale survey nearly a half of American workers consider themselves underemployed), it is logical to assume that it will have had an effect on pay as well.

Enter the IMF (Bloomberg reports):

The advance of technology is the biggest reason workers are earning a shrinking slice of the income pie, according to a new study by the International Monetary Fund. Labors share of national income declined in 29 of the worlds 50 biggest economies between 1991 and 2014, the IMF said in a study released Monday.

Analysis suggests technology is the largest contributor to the change in labor shares in the large majority of countries, it said.

The IMFs finding is significant because economists have been debating whats to blame for decades of sluggish wage growth. President Donald Trump has blamed trade with countries such as China and Mexico for hurting American workers and hollowing out the nations manufacturing sector. The IMF study suggests technology is a bigger driver.

About half the decline in national labor shares can be traced to the impact of technology, according to the study, which is part of the World Economic Outlook. The full outlook, including the funds forecasts for global growth, will be released April 18 in Washington.

Predictions of the futureand the IMFs are no exceptionare notoriously fallible, but this report (at least as described) concerns what has already taken place. It is not too much of a stretch to think that the trends it highlights will continue.But it is a considerable stretch to work out what to do about them.

On a brighter note (until you stop to think about the implications, which are, incidentally, far worse for China than for the U.S.), click on this link to see an army of robots working in a Chinese warehouse. Its a remarkable, if somewhat disturbing, sight.

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Robbie the Robber: Automation and Pay - National Review

Forbes

Automation And Machine Learning: An Opportunity To Upskill Support Staff Forbes There are approximately 1.3 million lawyers in America. A law firm is also made up of support staff such as paralegals, legal assistants and legal secretaries. In total, are approximately 271,000 paralegals and 202,000 legal secretaries in the United ...

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Automation And Machine Learning: An Opportunity To Upskill Support Staff - Forbes

In a recent report, Forrester projected that 24.7 million jobs will be lost to automation by 2027. The research firm updated its future of jobs research to take into account how robots, automation, and artificial intelligence will impact the workforce over the next decade. While the findings indicate a job loss of 17% between 2017 and 2027, Forrester estimated that new technology will also create 14.9 million new jobs in the next decade -- equivalent to 10% of the workforce through 2027.

That data point of almost 25 million jobs lost is a bit disturbing. And while most readers of this column are in the digital marketing, media, and advertising worlds where automation tends to mean automated media buying, i.e., programmatic media, as well as software, algorithms, and the like, the trend is unfurling across all consumer and B2B sectors.

Its happening within the auto industry, booking and reservations, shipping and receiving, travel, and consumer goods. Have you ever seen robots make pizzas? Theyre doing that now, so even the men and women who work the lines in quick service restaurants may not be making them for much longer.

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What are the implications of this automation nation? Where is the work for human eyes, ears, hands, and judgement? In digital advertising, at least, theres a bit of recalibration underway, as real human beings are reviewing ad content, manually, to determine whether its appropriate or not. This, after an outcry by marketers whose ads were showing up on YouTube next to offensive content. This human touch is important, though it wont stop the race to automation. You cant put the genie back in the bottle.

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Nearly 25M Jobs Will Be Lost To Automation By 2027 - MediaPost Communications

Robots: Love them or hate them, there's no denying employees in certain industries are going to lose jobs to them.

Many manufacturing jobs have been replaced by automation and offshoring, with 13 to 25 percent of specific machine-working jobs estimated to be lost over the next decade.

A 2013 study found up to 47 percent of American workers have jobs that have the potential to be replaced by automation.

But are these rather alarming statistics really giving us the full picture? Even with automation, its hard to believe there wont be any use for qualified workers.

Automation is not as new of a concept as you might think.

Technology has always advanced to the point that it can replace tasks commonly performed by humans. Look no further than the advent of the ATM and self-checkout.

But automating the tasks of bank tellers and cashiers didnt make people disappear from those industries. In fact, the number of workers in these occupations grew just like industrial robots have created upward of 5 million new jobs.

Marketing is another industry in which automation is breeding efficiency and innovation.

On average, 49 percent of businesses use marketing automation software, and its driving a 14.5 percent boost in sales productivity and a 12.2 percent drop in marketing overhead.

And rather than destroy the marketing industry, the trend created new executive roles such as the chief marketing technologist, as well as lower-level positions such as automation specialist, data scientist, and content curator.

While brick-and-mortar jobs may diminish with automation, back-end operations (including customer service, IT, human resources, logistics, management, etc.) are quickly ramping up to not only create more jobs, but also rescope current positions.

In customer service, for example, AI bots can be programmed to greet guests and answer simple, common questions, freeing up human employees' time to handle more complex or sensitive customer service situations.

Even with machines taking over, theres always going to be a need for human labor and expertise to run, troubleshoot, and fix them.

Technology doesnt displace jobs it creates new departments, companies, and even industries.

Ive seen it happen personally.

Back in the late '90s, there was a team on the Microsoft campus looking to disrupt the travel industry by allowing customers to search for flights and other travel-related information using a young invention called the internet. When Expedia was spun out of Microsoft, it changed the way people book flights, hotels, and car rentals.

And were just one of the many examples of machine automation enhancing the travel industry.

Passports are being automated in different ways around the world. The U.S. uses an Automated Passport Control program to help citizens arriving home from vacation bypass long, sluggish customs lines.

Three major airports in New York City have an airport virtual assistant (or AVA, though you can also call her Avatar) that works around the clock answering travelers' questions.

These technologies arent killing the travel industry nearly 1 million people were hired in the hospitality industry in October 2016 alone, and the air travel industry employs more than 470,000 people.

We didnt kill our industry with technology; we enhanced it.

You already know why automated data collection is a boon to marketers. That you even have that data available is a marvel of modern technology. So, instead of spreading unfounded fears about how machines and automation are destroying jobs, we need to focus on the jobs created by advancing technology.

The only way well stay competitive in this world is by harnessing the power of machines and automation.

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Automation won't destroy every marketing job - Marketing Tech