smart machines « Limits to Growth

Automation Job Loss Also Occurs in Offices

Here’s an interesting take on automation-caused employment reduction in the office environment: not every job-killing change comes from a mandate sent down by corporate headquarters; sometimes a simple procedural adjustment suggested by a worker or an improvement to more efficient software can result with a co-worker’s job made obsolete.

This story is a reminder that not […]

Arizonans Violently Resist Self-Driving Cars

This is an interesting report, showing that Americans are not all ready to be marched by corporate elites into the automated, jobless future.

Below, Waymo self-driving cars are being tested — and abused by citizens — in Chandler, Arizona.

In an earlier time, workers known as Luddites destroyed factory machinery to protest technology seen as taking their […]

Ireland: Taoiseach Warns of Automation Threat

It’s unusual to hear a national leader pointing out the approaching danger to workers and the economy posed by smart machines — in fact, I can’t recall another example. Perhaps top politicians of smaller countries feel more free because unusual remarks won’t upset the international order.

If only President Trump would do likewise — he could […]

Robots Get End-of-Year List

Year-end lists can be an interesting review of the blur that modern life has become, and the evolution of technology is extra rapid by its nature.

Wired’s list of robotics shows no interest in associated job loss for human workers, but if you look closely, the improving capabilities of smart machines are a warning of things […]

When Machines Replace Humans behind the Wheel

The Christian Science Monitor recently took a good long look at how the automated future will affect workers in one of the nation’s largest job categories — trucking. Self-driving vehicles will likely cause a great number of the two million-plus truck drivers in America to be put out of work.

Below, a 2015 map of employment […]

World Economic Forum Forecasts Machines Will Do More Work Than Humans by 2025

The WEF has a prediction that should get people’s attention because of the rapid entry of smart machines into the workplace. According to the experts, the world of employment is about to experience a revolution because of computers, robots and automation, and humans will find themselves priced out by machines that are cheaper and don’t […]

MIT’s Self-Driving Car Can Navigate Country Roads

Machines keep getting smarter and more capable of performing jobs formerly done by humans. One recent upgrade to self-driving tech comes from MIT where they have figured out how the cars can maneuver country lanes. Up to this point, companies like Google have tested their vehicles in big cities where they have mapped the exact […]

USA Today Opinion Piece: President Trump Should Tackle Automation

It’s a rare thing to see Washington suits speak up about the coming automation revolution in the workplace, so the recent opinion piece in USA Today is welcome. The writers are not exactly household names in the heartland, but a statement by Penny Pritzker, former Secretary of Commerce, and John Engler, former Governor of Michigan, […]

Automation Is Observed In Baltimore

A recent article in the Baltimore Sun investigated the topic of whether we should fear automation because of job loss. The piece is interesting because it contains a curiously balanced presentation with think tank projections for the future robotization versus current industry deflection with odd reasoning, e.g. “For every robot, you need a robot repair […]

Canada: Energy Company Switches to Self-Driving Trucks for Oil Sands Mining

Self-driving vehicles come in various shapes and sizes these days, and a Canadian company is investing in giant ore-carrying trucks to help mine oil sands in northern Alberta.

What’s unusual is that Suncor Energy came right out and said the automation would cause 400 jobs to be cut over the next six years. The new Komatsu […]

Korean Company Designs Robots to Replace Service Workers

Las Vegas’ annual Consumer Electronics Show is a global stage for new tech products to be introduced to the public and is taking place now from January 9 through 12. As the title suggests, most of the new machines are aimed at gizmo-minded shoppers, such as a self-driving suitcase, a laundry-folding robot and a variety […]

Japan May Provide a Snapshot of the Automated Future

Does Japan offer a preview of the near future of more robots? Perhaps, since the nation has an aging population, and it has rejected immigration as a source of labor, choosing automation to pick up the slack.

The Atlantic magazine takes a look in a new article that visits a robot restaurant in a robot hotel […]

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