Still not convinced that the Rise of the Robots will trigger a significant socio-economic disruption? Consider this statement from the World Economic Forum about the theme of their 2016 meeting in Davos, Switzerland: Over 2,500 leaders from business, government, international organizations, civil society, academia, media and the arts will participate in the 46th Annual Meeting of […]
Bank of England Warns of Widespread Technological Unemployment
Andrew G. Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England gave a speech titled “Labor’s Share” at the Trades Union Congress in London, England on Nov. 12, 2015. In it he warned that robots may destroy some 15 million jobs in England over the coming decades, nearly half of all employment. Here is a brief […]
MIT Technology Review: Who Will Own the Robots?
MIT Technology Review has published an excellent series of articles about the effects that general-purpose disruptive technologies will have on our economy. This link is to their latest piece, “Who Will Own the Robots?” It is a well-written and balanced overview of the subject and a great introduction to where thinking on this subject currently […]
Jeremy Rifkin
In this video Jeremy Rifkin discusses how the internet is bypassing the capitalist market and facilitating the emergence of the Collaborative Commons. Although traditional market employment is going down due to technological change, Rifkin is optimistic that new opportunities are opening in the “internet of things” economy. We remain skeptical of why the “internet of […]
Interview with Neil Gershenfeld
Is the Star Trek replicator about to become a reality? A machine which will build anything we request, molecule by molecule? Yes, according to Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. In this interview, first broadcast on Fareed Zakarias’ CNN show The Global Public Square, Gershenfeld explains the nature of the work […]