AI and robots seem to be everywhere, manage more and more work, releasing humans – to do what? In this 3 -part series, the contributor Jill Eisen explores the digital revolution that occurs in our professional life. Artificial intelligence is about to replace our own intelligence. It took decades to adapt to over-performance machines for human and animal work. What will happen when robots and algorithms go beyond what our brain can do? Some say that digital misery workshops – perpetitive, dull, poorly paid and unaware – jobs are our destiny. Others believe that technology could lead to more fulfilling lives. ** This episode is part 1 of the series. Part 2 is broadcast on Tuesday July 31; Part 3 is broadcast on Tuesday, August 7. ** This episode was originally broadcast on September 13, 2017.
The digital age transforms our way of working. Some would even say that artificial intelligence, robots and automation destroy it.
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No one doubts AI, as well as automatic learning, advanced robotics, 3D printing and the Internet of objects will disturb the labor market. It’s just a question of how much. An influential study out of Oxford University estimated that 47% of jobs in the United States could be eliminated using existing technologies. Everything, from fast food and retail jobs to legal and medical jobs are found in the reticle.
The big question is whether new well -paid jobs will replace the old ones. If recent trends are an indication, it doesn’t look good. Since the mid -1990s contract, part -time and temporary work has represented 60% of all new jobs in most developed countries, and in 2016, 90% of new jobs in Canada were part -time.
If the advantages of new technologies must be widely shared, there must be great changes to come. Labor laws and employment standards must be rewritten, our social security net will have to strengthen, governments will have to play a more active role in the direction of the economy and unions will have to find new ways to represent workers.
Guests in the series:
- Martin FordSilicon Valley entrepreneur and author of Rise of the Robots: Technology and the threat of a unemployed future.
- Nick SrnicekLecturer at King’s College in London, England. Author of Capitalism of the platform and co-author of Invent the future.
- Robert McChesneyProfessor in the Communication Department of the University of Illinois and co-author of PEople is preparing: the fight against an unemployed economy and a democracy without a citizenship.
- Ursula HuwsProfessor of labor and globalization at the University of Hertfordshire in London, England and author of Work in the global digital economy.
- Guy RyderManaging Director of the International Labor Organization.
- Chris RobertsDirector of social and economic policy at the Canadian Labor Congress.
- Sam GindinFormer director of research for Canadian Automobile Workers – now Unifor – and co -author of The manufacture of world capitalism.
- Standing guyProfessor of economics at the London School of Economics and author of A precarious charter and a basic income: and how we can get there.
- Sunil JohalResearch director at the MOWAT Center of the University of Toronto and co-author of reports, Work without a net and development of policies for the sharing economy.
- Juliette SchorProfessor at the Boston College sociology department and author of The overworked American And Real wealth.
- Evelyn forgetHealth economist at the University of Manitoba.
Read more in -depth:
There have been a large number of books published on this subject since 2015. Here are some of them that Jill Eisen has found useful.
- Robots climb By Martin Ford, published by Basic Books, 2015.
- People prepare by Robert McChesney and John Nichols, published by Norton Books, 2016.
- Work in the global digital economy By Ursula Huws, published by Monthly Review Press, 2014.
- A precarious charter By Guy Standing, published by Bloomsbury, 2014.
- Basic income: A guide for open -mindedness By Guy Standing, published by Yale University Press, 2017.
- Real wealth by Juliet Schor, published by Penguin Books, 2011.
- The overworked American By Juliet Schor, published by Basic Books, 1993.
- Invent the future: postcapitalism and a world without work By Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, published by Verson Books, 2015.
- Capitalism of the platform By Nick Srnicek, published by Verso, 2016.
- The manufacture of world capitalism By Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch, published by Verso, 2013.
- Utopia for realists By Rutger Bregman, published by Little Brown, 2014.
- The second era of the machine By Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, published by WW Norton & Company, 2016.
- Machine platform crowd By Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, published by WW Norton & Company, 2017.
- The end of work By Jeremy Rifkin, Bytarcher published, 1996.
- The future we want By Sarah Leonard & Bhaskar Sunkara, published by Metropolitan Books, 2016.
- Cyber-polenariat by Nick Dyer-Witheford, published by Between The Lines, 2015.
- The richness of humans By Ryan Avent, published by St. Martin’s Press, 2016.
- What is yours by Tom Slee, published by Between The Lines, 2016.
- Peers Inc By Robin Chase, published by Public Affairs, 2015.
- Economic possibilities for our grandchildren by John Maynard Keynes, 1930.
- Development of policies for the sharing economy By Sunil Johal and Noah Zon, published by Mowat Center, U of T, 2015.
Related websites:
** This episode was produced by Jill Eisen and Greg Kelly.