Reporters on the Growing List of Jobs Being Lost to Artificial Intelligence

Although the over job market in America has remained strong, the long term disruption to a wide number of careers has begun unfolding. The easiest to see are the expected job loses in transportation, with the advent of driverless vehicles, and in warehousing, where robot lifts replace the employees. Less obvious are those careers once thought of as technology proof, like journalism.

The idea that a machine can understand the complex ideas needed to form a story and to give it the tone and inflection that portray it correctly readers arrived with its first wave back in 2014. In this wave, the type of writing once reserved for cub reporters is now being replaced by computer algorithms. Often times these robots are producing the more route type of stories, for example sports updates or financial reporting for business news, but, they are also taking jobs nonetheless. They are also getting better at reporting and editing too, as “reported” in the recent New York Times article, “Rise of the Robot Reporter” hby Jaclyn Peiser.

In the end, AI will likely never end up replacing the world’s journalists, but we believe that it will seriously reduce the number or jobs in reporting and journalism. Those who wish to be a reporter in the future will need to be adaptive and continuously learning to remain relevant and avoid becoming one of those who end up being eliminated from the workforce. What are your thoughts?

The American AI Initiative: Trump Signs Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

On Feb. 11, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order establishing the American AI Initiative. The goal: to position the U.S. as the world leader in artificial intelligence.

The initiative includes five major areas of action but lacks specific strategic steps, reports IEEE Spectrum’s Tech Talk blog. In fact, artificial intelligence experts believe it’s little more than a response to China’s declaration of becoming the world’s AI leader by 2030. For example, the American AI Initiative does not mention new funding, nor does it indicate where funds will come from. Additionally, it does not focus on ethical and responsible deployment. Furthermore, working scientists, academics, researchers, and ethicists have not been assembled to weigh in. Finally, the initiative makes no mention of how the U.S. will collaborate with other nations to truly advance the long-term future of AI.

Do you think the American AI Initiative can establish a legitimate shift in the nation’s technology and science policy, or is the White House simply reacting to China’s ambitions?

Marty the Grocery Store Robot Is Keeping Aisles Clear

Meet Marty, the grocery store robot. This new “employee” is utilizing artificial intelligence to monitor aisles and keep them clear.

A command center in the Philippines controls Marty, reports AP technology writer Matt O’Brien. More specifically, the wheeled robot sends images of spills and messes to the center’s human workers, who in turn trigger cleanup messages over the store’s loudspeaker. Meanwhile, Marty’s cameras and sensors make him smart enough to avoid shoppers and carts. To be sure, that same AI technology will soon enable the googly-eyed robot to monitor inventory, too.

United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) president Marc Perrone is keeping an eye on robots like Marty. The “aggressive expansion of automation in grocery and retail stores,” he wrote in an emailed statement, “is a direct threat to the millions of American workers who power these industries and the customers they serve.”

Aisle cleanup, inventory… What other human worker tasks will grocery store robots replace?

Jobs lost to AI, Robotics and Automation are Already Underway in Parts of China

Today, as you read this, citizens of Shenzhen China live and work side by side with their future replacements.

Shenzhen is a major tech hub city within China, so it can be viewed as ground zero for the deployment of many new technologies and innovations, including AI and robotics. In a recent Bloomberg, Hello World video news report, Ashlee Vance shows not only other technologies like facial recognition exist and monitor everyone in public, but also explored how a smart phone manufacturing plant has installed a completely worker free assembly line that can build a phone from start to finish in less time, with less defects and at a lower cost.

Here in America, this report serves as a warning of what is soon to come. Jobs are being eliminated and not just in factories. Further into the video Mr. Vance dines at a completely worker free fast food restaurant. Robotic vending machines cook and serve the entire meal from order intake to electronic payment.

This gives a glimpse into the future of jobs that millions of us earn a living from. Are you ready to live in worker free world?

Alibaba Uses AI to Reduce City’s Traffic Congestion

Hangzhou’s seven million residents are reaping enormous traffic reduction benefits thanks to artificial intelligence called City Brain.

City Brain was developed by Alibaba, which makes its home in the eastern Chinese city. Once ranked fifth among China’s most-congested cities, Hangzhou is now 57th on the list, according to a CNN report. The AI invention gathers video from intersections and GPS data on the locations of cars and buses across Hangzhou. It analyzes that data in real time and coordinates more than 1,000 road signals to prevent or lessen gridlock. Commute times have shortened. And first responders can get their fire trucks ambulances to the scene of an emergency twice as quickly as they did before.

City Brain is a comforting example of how artificial intelligence will benefit humanity without eliminating jobs. Quite the opposite, in fact, as human workers will enjoy more efficient ways to getting to and from their jobs and ultimately have more time to spend in leisure activities away from work.

What downsides (privacy concerns, for example) might result from using AI to control city traffic?

Nevada Counties Using Blockchain for Public Records

Northern Nevada counties are using blockchain to store digital versions of birth certificates, marriage certificates, and other government records. It’s just one more way this online ledger, known for securing virtual currencies like bitcoin, is replacing paper… and people.

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that between April and December 2018, Washoe County delivered 950 secure digital marriage certificates to home computers and smartphones. (A convenient option for the many out-of-towners who flock to Reno to tie the knot.) Elko County, meanwhile, is testing the technology to record certified birth certificates. Blockchain makes it possible for recipients to receive marriage or birth certificates in less than 24 hours via email versus waiting a week or longer. And digital records can be used over and over again, unlike paper copies that are used only once.

Experts predict that the number digital certificates processed in the U.S. per year could at least match the billions of paper records that get a certificate or embossed seal. As such, government staff and office workers will soon find themselves displaced by kiosks. Governments will continue to collect the fees but will no longer have the overhead of clerical labor.

What other uses, beyond virtual currencies and public records, might there be for blockchain?

Blockchain Tracks 28 Tons of Mandarin Oranges from China to Singapore

IBM used the delivery of 108,000 oranges to test blockchain recording of the main shipping document and bill of lading. Blockchain did in “just one second” what takes five to seven days to do with traditional paperwork.

Blockchain-based electronic systems save document processing time while also cutting operating costs, according to a report by CoinDesk. In the mandarin oranges trial, for example, refrigerated cargo spent less time in port and storage, thus reducing electricity costs. Additionally, traceable, tamper-proof records storage improve security by eliminating the document fraud that plagues the maritime shipment industry . For it’s next pilot, IBM will use blockchain to track cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo through a Chinese refinery and a Korean battery factory to a Ford Motors plant in the U.S.

Blockchain will negatively impact employment in the international shipping arena. Specifically, there will be less work for those who handle paper manifests or work in ports and customs. However, faster deliveries can boost demand and potentially create a need for additional workers on pre-shipment tasks.

Blockchain is proving to be an excellent tool for the transport of goods. How might this technology be used in the transport of humans from one place to another?

Will You Lose Your Job to Artificial Intelligence?

Some experts expect that the U.S. will lose 10 percent of its jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), while others anticipate losses of 50 percent or more. In fact, job loss estimates will continue to run the gamut, depending on who’s making the prediction and what model they opt to use.

Economists, for example, look at job tasks eliminated by automation, reports Quartz at Work. Or, they consider the impact of AI on an entire occupation. Conversely, technologists and investors look at the AI effect by reimagining an industry from the ground up. Case in point: startup companies aren’t calculating the displacement of work that human workers currently do. Instead, they are using algorithms to create workflow processes that don’t require humans to begin with.

Lenders, supermarkets, and news apps are already using AI to gain market share and challenge competitors. To keep up, existing companies will for pressured to implement automation and reduce workers. But, as AI-skilled technologists and consultants help start new businesses and reimagine old businesses, different types of jobs will emerge. 

Fast food? Security? Radiology? Which industry do you think will be the next to reimagine its business model without humans?  

Self-Driving Semi Truck Completes Cross-Country Test Drive

Integrating self-driving systems into existing semi-trucks creates autonomous vehicles that do not rely on human drivers for long hauls.

Embark, a San Francisco startup, successfully programmed a Peterbilt semi-truck to drive from Los Angeles to Jacksonville, reports CNBC’s Lora Kolodny. That is, incredibly, a journey of 2,400 miles without a human behind the wheel. In fact, the company, has already integrated the self-driving system into five semis and plans to equip 40 more trucks this year. In doing so, Embark can test the software and on-board sensors that map surroundings in real time and enable the vehicles to avoid obstacles. Bottom line, Embark aims to outfit trucks to drive themselves on freeways.

The self-driving system does not entirely replace truckers, who will take the wheel to navigate exit ramps and towns. Rather, it will enable drivers to more effectively cover long routes and make more deliveries in less time.

What do you think are the biggest benefits and challenges of self-driving haulers?