Monthly Archives: July 2017

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(Tech Xplore)Remember when there such a thing as the job ladderdo great work and catch the rewards in the form of promotion, or job assurance, or higher salary, or all three in one great moving-up package?

Well, you might want to question your faith on this kind of rainbow and pay attention to what a new Sutton Trust report has to say, as it explores forces governing those who live and work in the UK.

The title is "The State of Social Mobility in the UK," by Boston Consulting and Sutton Trust, dated July 2017. The Trust wanted to know how social mobility in the UK has evolved through the group's 20-year history, and where it is likely to go in the future."

The report takes a look at the impact of automation on workas many of the employed know work to be. They refer to a recent Bank of England study estimating that up to 15 million jobs in the UK could be at risk of automation.

That is a sobering number, and who are most at risk? Unsurprisingly, routine-based jobs in predictable environments that can easily be described by rules are most at risk. Sure, one immediately thinks of all those robot advances in picking, sorting, lifting and even executing building construction duty.

The report looks at a gamut of automation, and goes through the numbers likely to feel the impact in a number of categories. Here are just a few examples:

"Around 280,000 book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks in the UK could see their jobs disappear following the transition towards cloud based accounting," said the report, "increased use of robots and improved level of automation."

A further 75,000 UK-based paralegals could see their jobs affected by automation through technology.

The wave of technological innovation in the financial sector was not ignored. That wave involves the introduction of robo-advisory, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence. "These could reduce the need for middle and back office jobs by up to 50 - 70%."

Obviously, retail assistants, cashiers, salespersons, and telephone sales will feel the impact.

"Automatic cashiers are already supplanting human cashiers. Further rolling out of existing technologies, as well as new technologies such as voice and image recognition and natural language processing (ability to interpret human language, tone, and pitch and take appropriate actions) will put these jobs at risk."

The "mobility" ladder looks as if it will be broken but in an unsettling way where the rich will most likely prosper nonetheless.

Remember the conventional view that technology sooner or later is job-creating, not just in ways that were earlier categorized? The report suggests it might be different this time around. In other words, not everyone will lose the race against machines and technology disruption. High skill workers (typically drawn from higher socioeconomic backgrounds) could disproportionately benefit. Upward mobility will take a hit.

May Bulman in the Independent said, "Soft skills" such as confidence and communication, are set to be of higher value, an easier fit for those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds.)

Among the Key Findings, as stated by the Trust:

We may see greater demand for technical skills, and an increased value of essential life skills (such as confidence, motivation and communication). "This will advantage those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds, who typically have greater opportunities to develop these skills."

The Sutton Trust was founded by Sir Peter Lampl in 1997. According to the about-us statement, they said, "We are a foundation which improves social mobility in the UK through evidence-based programmes, research and policy advocacy."

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Report examines automation waves that threaten upward mobility - Tech Xplore

Bill Gates is famous for saying, I choose a lazy person to do a hard job. Because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.

However shocking that sounds, putting more work and hours into something doesnt always yield better results. And todays fast-paced online world can be especially tough on businesses that dont manage to keep up.

As a busy blogger, youre probably juggling a multitude of different tasks, many of which are repetitive and frankly, quite boring. For your blog to take off and scale into something greater than a company of one employee, you must use your time efficiently and learn to automate and delegate.

Read on to learn about the practical tools of automation and how to use them to grow your business.

On average 49 percent of companies are currently using marketing automation and the adoption is growing rapidly, as there are 11 times more B2B organizations using marketing automation now than in 2011.

Why is everyone jumping on this new trend? According to various research findings, marketers whove adopted marketing automation count multiple benefits:

Besides helping to improve customer experience, email marketing and, lead management as well as helping to reduce human error in marketing campaigns, the biggest and most important benefit of automation for busy bloggers is that it can save hours and hours of time, which could be spent creating new content and growing the business.

Creating excellent content for your blog is only half the story. You might be a skilled writer and an expert in your field, but churning out high-quality content every day is hardly possible if youre a one-man show. And yet, it doesnt mean you should let your social media presence suffer.

What you need to keep your communication flowing is a rich selection of well-written content that your target audience would find interesting and valuable. By sharing blog posts, videos or infographics created by other bloggers or businesses you will continue to create value for your followers and boost your credibility. Content curation can be an opportunity for bloggers to build their following and figure out the interests and motivations of their audience.

Credit: Pocket

Explore the most popular content curation tools, such as Pocket, Scoop.it, Feedly, and Storify that will help you to discover, save, and distribute the best content from around the web.

The best way to manage the time you spend on social media is by blocking off a few hours in your calendar for content scheduling and getting it all done in one go. Buffer and Hootsuite are the leading content scheduling tools available online that can take the pain out of this boring task. Instead of copy-pasting the same message across different platforms, fiddling with different settings and re-uploading visuals, get all your social media content planned out and scheduled by using a dedicated automation tool.

Credit: Buffer

To get the most of social media automation, be sure to craft your own social media content plan. A robust social media content calendar will not only help you stick to a consistent schedule, but will also make the planning of time-sensitive content easier and help you enforce a healthy sharing ratio. One of the most popular ways for figuring out the ideal ratio for the content youll share on different channels is to use the 411 rule. This rule refers to a practice of sharing four user-centric educational or entertaining posts for every one slightly promotional and one hard sale post.

Credit: Buffer

When it comes to choosing the optimal time to post on social media, youll need to do a bit of heavy-lifting yourself and analyze your audiences behavior and preferences. When are your followers online? When do you see the level of engagement spike throughout the day? Look into the built-in analytics on Twitter or Facebook to determine the best times to push your messages out. Alternatively, you can rely on the clever algorithms that Buffer and Hootsuite both use to automatically schedule your post to go out when theyre most likely to be noticed. CoSchedule have rounded up a number of studies to figure out the perfect times to post and found that:

Although not a WordPress plugin, IFTTT is one of the most versatile automation tools on the market. It can send you a daily email with the GIFs that are trending on Giphy or notify you when a new subscriber is added to your MailChimp list. The possibilities are wide-ranging and exciting.

To maximize the ROI of your email marketing, ensure your workflow is set up properly. Use a WordPress form builder to have a smart-looking subscription form that integrates with your email provider on your site. Then set up an automated workflow on your email platform to trigger a welcome campaign once a new email is added to your mailing list. If you want to quickly capture new leads on your blog and add them to the right mailing list, CaptainForm, a user-friendly WordPress form builder that integrates with MailChimp and GetResponse, is a good place to start.

Credit: CaptainForm

Another cool WordPress plugin that can take some work off your hands is Revive Old Post, which promises to help you keep the old posts alive and drive more traffic by reposting them on social media. To keep your content calendar neatly organized, you can also explore the CoSchedule plugin, which will help you take control of your blogging calendar.

Many bloggers will attest to the idea that hiring a VA right from the start is the best thing you can do for your business. The most common objection here is that it seems counterintuitive to pay someone before you start making money yourself, but it is the only way for you to focus on the most important, revenue-producing tasks and leave the rest in someone elses capable hands.

So where do you find a talented VA that will help you bring order to chaos? Many entrepreneurs scour freelancer marketplaces like Upwork and PeoplePerHour or leverage their personal and professional networks on social media (Facebook and LinkedIn groups, Twitter hashtags).

When hiring a VA, make sure you know exactly what type of tasks youll be outsourcing so that you can look out for the right set of skills. Do they need a good written English? Does it matter what time zone they live in? Do they need any specific knowledge? If youre struggling to wrap your head around this, use Foundrs Hiring a VA checklist to cover your bases.

Credit: Trello

If your VA lives on the other side of the world, you can use tools like Screenmailer to explain projects and tasks in a quick and reliable way. Trello is also an excellent tool to keep track of the progress and make sure youre all on the same page.

Dont be afraid of making a few mistakes here and there theyre not going to kill your business. But there are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to marketing automation:

1) Set goals for each automated effort

You will need a way to measure the success of your marketing automation, so make sure you set goals for each automated effort, such as social media, email workflows, and so on. This will help you to track the performance of automated campaigns and ensure theyre optimized for the best results.

2) Optimize your email automation

Automating your email marketing will be an exhilarating experience. However, its key to remember that adding your leads to onboarding or welcome automation workflows only works if the lists are segmented and you personalize the content that you send. Dont make the mistake of blasting generic emails to the entire mailing list because it will turn people away.

3) Dont get lazy

Marketing automation will save you tons of time, but dont make the mistake of letting things take their own course. Take time every week to re-test and review your automated messages to make sure theyre still relevant. If your engagement rates start to drop, its time to refresh the content and do some A/B testing.

Once you turn your blog into a source of income, your efforts must be focused on growing the business. So you cant spend your days plowing through a to-do list that has no direct (or very little) impact on your revenue. Automating the most time-consuming tasks will free up a lot of time and allow you to scale your business without much investment. And if you decide to hire a VA, there is only one thing to remember never outsource core tasks and youll be just fine!

Read next: Ashley Madison: Sorry for ruining your life, here's $3,500 (or $2)

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Practical automation guide and tools for busy bloggers - TNW

In BriefA chief strategy officer has stated that retraining is theanswer to the threat that AI represents to jobs and livelihoods.However, several other industry leaders back other solutions tothis major stumbling block in the age of automation. Retraining as Retaining

Jeremy Auger, a Chief Strategy Officer at D2L, an educational technology company, has asserted in a post on entrepreneur.com that the way for humans to maintain their relevance in the labor force in the face of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation developments is through ongoing, career-long retraining. His voice is added to a choir of individuals who are preaching the same message.

Auger argues that AI represents an unprecedented challenge to the work force on account of its cerebral capabilities, which could see it replacing the human workforce in the cognitive space as well as the physical one. He argues that

learning cant end with graduation. To be competitive, companies will need to step up and provide education opportunities themselves, while encouraging self-directed learning so they can ensure that their workers are continually acquiring new skills

Firstly, he argues that we need to change what people learn. Rather than attempt to match AI in ability, we should instead aim to cultivate the skills that AI is unlikely to develop, such as innovation and creativity: seeing connections in seemingly unrelated things. This is the impetus behind other related programs like IBMs P-Tech, which seeks to give children today a more tech-oriented education that befits tomorrows automation-driven world.

He also argues that we should shift the onus of education away from parents and schools, and towards ourselves and the companies we are part of, who should take responsibility for continually providing opportunities for their employees to develop. This is a view shared by David Kenny, IBMs senior Vice President for Watson, who wrote in an article for Wired that we should be

updating the Federal Work-Study program, something long overdue, [which] would give college students meaningful, career-focused internships at companies rather than jobs in the school cafeteria or library

However, retraining and re-educating is not the end-all-be-all answer to the ever-growing issue that is automation.There are rival choirs who are lauding different solutions to AI joining the workforce, which Stephen Hawking states will cause job destruction deep into the middle classes, and Oxford University researchers claim that 47 percent of US jobs are at riskbecause of it.

Bill Gates has proposed taxing robots and corporations in order to provide for people whose jobs are being replaced: he has asserted that Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, Social Security tax, all those things. If a robot comes in to do the same thing, youd think that wed tax the robot at a similar level.

Others have proposed a system of universal basic income (UBI) an income prescribed by the government to any citizen to give individuals the money that they would have earned through a job replaced by automation. People would then be able to work to augment their pay, but would always be able to survive regardless of whether they are employed.

Mark Zuckerberg is an advocator of the UBI strategy, viewing it as a platform for innovation rather than the sad consequence of being exceeded by a robot. He told Harvard graduates that We should explore ideas like universal basic income to make sure everyone has a cushion to try new ideas.

There are a spectrum of views concerning the best response to increasing automation of the working world although none of them seem to guarantee the best situation for AI and humans. However, it is important that we continue to have these conversations now rather than face themafter the problem has progressed much further.

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Expert Asserts that Retraining is the Best Response to AI Automation - Futurism

Sixteen months ago, GM stunned the automotive and tech world when it acquired Cruise Automation, a startup that makes autonomous car technology.

From outside appearances the two companies seemed well aligned as Cruise ramped up and soon began testing self-driving Chevy Bolt electric vehicles in San Francisco and later, in Scottsdale, Ariz.

But relationships are complicated and messy. It turns out that the transition from small startup to subsidiary of one of the world's largest automakers wasn't so effortless, Kyle Vogt , CEO and co-founder of Cruise Automation said on stage at Fortune's annual Brainstorm TECH event in Aspen, Colo.

"Working inside of a large company has not been smooth sailing," Vogt said on stage at the Brainstorm Tech event. "It took us probably six months to a year to really figure out how to work well together and to achieve what we have now, which is mutual respect."

Vogt admitted that he and the rest of the Cruise employees were probably viewed as the young jerks walking into GM and telling people how to do their jobs.

Im sure some people thought that at first," Vogt said in response to a question from senior writer Erin Griffith. "It probably went way too far in that direction when we first got started."

That has since changed, as employees at the once-small startup and the giant automaker recognized and respected the expertise that each company brought to the relationship.

"We identified that the folks with decades of experience building cars really know what theyre talking about when it comes to assembly plants and how they put things together," Vogt said. "Over time I think weve developed a mutual understanding and figured out when it comes to software thats really complex and needs lots of cycles of iteration to achieve the level of perfection you need to replace a human driver that we should leverage Silicon Valley talent and the people at Cruise to do some of that work."

Vogt said Cruise could have stayed independent and avoided the initial culture clash with GM or any other company, for that matter. But in the end, staying independent was at conflict with the startup's true mission, which is getting these self-driving cars out as quickly as possible.

"When we looked at what GM brought to table, which has decades of automotive experience, assembly plants, lots of capitaltheres no doubt we could accelerate that mission and compress the timeline by partnering with one of the biggest automakers in the world," Vogt said. " We had to sort of suck up our pride and do what was right for the mission here."

Link:

Cruise CEO: Joining GM Hasn't Been Smooth Sailing - Fortune