Robots and the Future of Jobs

Who Will Own the Robots?

We’re in the midst of a jobs crisis, and rapid advances in AI and other technologies may be one culprit. How can we get better at sharing the wealth that technology creates?

MIT Technology Review | August 23, 2015

The way Hod Lipson describes his Creative Machines Lab captures his ambitions: “We are interested in robots that create and are creative.” Lipson, an engineering professor at Cornell University (this July he’s moving his lab to Columbia University), is one of the world’s leading experts on artificial intelligence and robotics. His research projects provide a peek into the intriguing possibilities of machines and automation, from robots that “evolve” to ones that assemble themselves out of basic building blocks. (His Cornell colleagues are building robots that can serve as baristas and kitchen help.) A few years ago, Lipson demonstrated an algorithm that explained experimental data by formulating new scientific laws, which were consistent with ones known to be true. He had automated scientific discovery.

While the many robots in auto factories typically perform only one function, in the new Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif., a robot might do up to four: welding, riveting, bonding and installing a component. Source: http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/08/robots-to-rule-world-taking-all-jobs.html

<more at http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/538401/who-will-own-the-robots/; related links: [Part 1 of a series of 3] http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/515926/how-technology-is-destroying-jobs/ (How Technology Is Destroying Jobs. June 12, 2013) and [Part 2 of a series of 3] http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/531726/technology-and-inequality/ (Technology and Inequality. The disparity between the rich and everyone else is larger than ever in the United States and increasing in much of Europe. Why? October 21, 2014)>