The dire predictions of labour disruption and jobs being lost due to technology advancement is exaggerated, according to a leading U.S. economist.

Robert Atkinson said technology automation will replace some jobs but also create new career opportunities that presently don91裸聊视频檛 exist, but the idea of it quickly revolutionizing the labour workforce in North America is economic fearmongering.

Atkinson said while scientists and engineers talk about massive worker dislocation due to artificial intelligence and robotic automation, he remains skeptical of such bold predictions based on labour history dating back to the Industrial Revolution in Britain and job skill application realities.

91裸聊视频淲e have seen this before. Technological advancement brings predictions of massive upheaval in the workforce, particularly in the U.S., but it doesn91裸聊视频檛 end up happening that way,91裸聊视频� Atkinson said.

91裸聊视频淩obots simply can91裸聊视频檛 replace some jobs. You won91裸聊视频檛 see a robot out fighting a forest fire anytime soon. You won91裸聊视频檛 see a robotic model walking down the runway in New York or Paris. There are skill and judgment requirements that human beings bring to particular jobs which robots will never duplicate.91裸聊视频�

He also cautioned that new technology takes times to work out the kinks and inefficiencies, saying new advancements don91裸聊视频檛 arrive in fully formed functionality.

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91裸聊视频淎s a leading expert in robotics at MIT has said, just because we developed the internal combustion engine doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean we will be traveling at warp speed next. Because we have developed technologies with artificial intelligence, it doesn91裸聊视频檛 mean machines capable of replicating everything human beings can do is just around the corner,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淭hat is not the case. The pace of change is always slow. The bottom line is the impacts will be manageable.91裸聊视频�

He cited another example of Apple, started by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the late 1970s, which didn91裸聊视频檛 fully reach its impact until nearly three decades later.

91裸聊视频淵ou can see that with the driver-less car prototypes now in development. That science is not very good right now. You wouldn91裸聊视频檛 want to put your child in the backseat of a driver-less car right now and go for a drive. That would be risky and dangerous. It will get better and safer but it will take awhile yet,91裸聊视频� he said.

Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a public policy think-tank based in Washington, D.C., was one of the keynote speakers at the recent symposium called Humans, Machines and the Future of Work, hosted by UBC Okanagan.

Atkinson said automation should not be feared or stalled by governments under the guise of protecting existing jobs, as it will help increase stalled productivity overall in both the Canadian and U.S. economies.

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91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a bit of a puzzle as to why productivity has not increased. If you don91裸聊视频檛 have robust productivity growth, you can have a robust growth in standard of living or wages. That remains a big challenge given the demographic of baby boomers retiring and leaving the workforce,91裸聊视频� he said.

Atkinson offered his advice for government policy makers, starting with don91裸聊视频檛 panic as Armageddon in the workforce due to automation is not on the immediate horizon.

91裸聊视频淵ou also can91裸聊视频檛 slow down the rate of innovation through technology. You need automation to improve productivity as the population continues to age,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淏ill Gates has suggested imposing a tax on robotic job replacement to help retrain people who lose their job to automation but we feel that would be a major mistake. Anything that tempers the stimulation to the economy from automation won91裸聊视频檛 help raise productivity.91裸聊视频�

He also said a universal income, where every adult is guaranteed an income regardless of whether they work or not, would create an enormous tax load on the economy without sound reasoning.

91裸聊视频淭his premise might work on the belief that a large group of people are suddenly going to become unemployed by technology and require support from the government. But my argument is that we are a long way from that ever happening,91裸聊视频� Atkinson argued.

91裸聊视频淭here is no point in going down that road right now.91裸聊视频�

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Atkinson sees the biggest challenges that lie ahead for meeting future workforce demands lie in worker skill assessment and retraining, something he said governments have struggled in the U.S. and Canada to implement, and how students are prepared for job skill demands when graduating high school.

91裸聊视频淭here is a high level of digitization trend going forward with jobs today. The term you hear a lot today is double deep skills, meaning whether you have a job in marketing, accounting, engineering or graphic design, you not only require the skills to do those jobs but the digital competency to carry out those tasks using modern technology.

91裸聊视频淚f workers don91裸聊视频檛 have those digital capabilities, they will be in a harder position to get ahead or adapt to workforce changes.91裸聊视频�

barry.gerding@blackpress.ca
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