Automation, Innovation and Economic Crisis

Automation, Innovation and Economic Crisis
Author: Jon-Arild Johannessen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2018-05-15
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1351039849
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The fourth industrial revolution is developing globally, with no geographical centre. It is also taking place at enormous speed. This development will shape the workplaces of the future, which will be entirely different from the workplaces created by the first, second and third industrial revolutions. Industry created the industrial worker. The knowledge society will create a new type of "industrial worker", the knowledge worker. While the third industrial revolution was concerned with the digitalization of work, in the fourth industrial revolution, robots will bring about the informatization of work. Many of these robots will be systematically connected, such that they can obtain updated information and learn from their own and others’ mistakes. The way we work, where we work, what we work on, and our relationships with our colleagues and employers are all in a state of change. The workplace of the future will not necessarily be a fixed geographical location, but may be geographically distributed and functionally divided. In his book, Jon-Arild Johannessen argues that a "perfect" social storm occurs when inequality grows at a catastrophic rate, unemployment increases, job security is threatened for a growing number and robotization takes over even the most underpaid jobs. Thus, the ingredients for a perfect social storm will be brought forward by cascades of innovations that will most likely lead to economic and social crises and he argues that it is reasonable to assume that it will only take a small spark for this social storm to develop into a social revolution.

Innovation, Automation and a Sustainable Economy

Innovation, Automation and a Sustainable Economy
Author: Jon-Arild Johannessen
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 155
Release: 2024-04-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1040008747
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Economic inequality, the environmental crisis and the climate crisis are systemically linked. Accordingly, they should be understood as a single, interconnected system and strategies for resolving them should be guided by this understanding. This book demonstrates how the Green New Deal and its systemic alternative, the Red New Deal, could influence the course of these three global crises, all within the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The author has developed several scenarios that are relevant to the automation that will result from advances in artificial intelligence and intelligent robots. The first is one of mass unemployment, while the second envisages low rates of unemployment, although workers will experience stagnation and then a decline in their wages. It is possible to envisage a different set of scenarios; however, we must replace the capitalist economic model with a different model: mutualism, a sustainable model that would allow for economic growth while also addressing the three current systemic crises. The author argues that if such a model is implemented, there will be jobs for everyone and the climate crisis will be tackled because people’s welfare will be prioritized over profit. We can assert that such a model will foster the development of economic equality. The basic premise of this mutual and sustainable economic model is that sustainability is in everyone’s interests. The book employs not only established and innovative methods, such as literature reviews, scenario thinking and historical methods, to underpin its arguments, but also conceptual generalization as an intellectual tool to tackle the general research problem; thus, it will be an invaluable resource for scholars and students of sustainability and the innovation economy.

Automation, Innovation and Work

Automation, Innovation and Work
Author: Jon-Arild Johannessen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2020-03-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000051617
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Artificial intelligence will not necessarily create a super-intelligent “human robot”; however, it is very probable that intelligent robots and intelligent informats will bring about a form of super-globalization, in which money and goods are prioritized over people and democracy and where the widespread use of casual labour – that is, short-term contracts – will become the most common form of employment relationship. It is also very likely that artificial intelligence will bring about what is known as singularity. This term is used to describe a situation where intelligent robots, from a rational and logical perspective, are smarter than humans, i.e. the development of AI. This book explores the impact that these intelligent robots and intelligent informats will have on social and societal development. The author tackles the question of singularity from three distinct standpoints: technological singularity – the intelligence of machines compared to that of humans – which he argues will bring about a qualitatively new labour market; economic singularity – the consequences for work relationships, value creation and employment – which he asserts will promote full automation, result in precarious contracts with low salaries, and, in some countries, possibly lead to the introduction of a universal basic income; and social singularity – the consequences of technological and economic singularity for democratic processes, bureaucratic procedures for exercising authority and control, and the direction in which society will develop, in addition to the emergence of new social institutions – which Johannessen says will promote a transition from representative democracy to genuine democracy. The book will appeal to academics, researchers and students of economic sociology and political economy, as well as those focusing upon the emerging innovation economy. It will also find an audience among professionals and policymakers keen to understand the impact the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have on organizations, individuals and society at large.

Automation and the Future of Work

Automation and the Future of Work
Author: Aaron Benanav
Publisher: Verso Books
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2022-04-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1839761326
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A consensus-shattering account of automation technologies and their effect on workplaces and the labor market In this consensus-shattering account of automation technologies, Aaron Benanav investigates the economic trends that will shape our working lives far into the future. Silicon Valley titans, politicians, techno-futurists, and social critics have united in arguing that we are on the cusp of an era of rapid technological automation, heralding the end of work as we know it. But does the muchdiscussed “rise of the robots” really explain the long-term decline in the demand for labor? Automation and the Future of Work uncovers the deep weaknesses of twenty-first-century capitalism and the reasons why the engine of economic growth keeps stalling. Equally important, Benanav goes on to salvage from automation discourse its utopian content: the positive vision of a world without work. What social movements, he asks, are required to propel us into post-scarcity if technological innovation alone can’t deliver it? In response to calls for a permanent universal basic income that would maintain a growing army of redundant workers, he offers a groundbreaking counterproposal.

Automation, Capitalism and the End of the Middle Class

Automation, Capitalism and the End of the Middle Class
Author: Jon-Arild Johannessen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 70
Release: 2019-04-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000020347
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In this book, the author argues that a new form of capitalism is emerging at the threshold of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He asserts that we are in the midst of a transition from democratic capitalism to feudal capitalism and highlights how robotization and innovation is leading to a social crisis for the middle classes as economic inequality is on the rise. Johannessen outlines the three elements – Balkanization, the Great Illusion, and the plutocracy – which are referred to here as feudal structures. He describes, analyzes, and discusses these elements both individually and in interaction with each other, and asks: "What structures and processes are promoting and boosting feudal capitalism?" Additionally, the book serves to generate knowledge about how the middle class will develop in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It shows the various effects of robotization on the middle class, where middle class jobs are transformed, deconstructed, and re-constructed and new part-time jobs are created for the middle class. Given the interest in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the book will appeal to students of economic sociology and political economy as well as those in innovation and knowledge management courses focusing upon the emerging innovation economy. The topic will attract policymakers, and the accessible and engaging tone will also make the book of interest to the general public.

The Political Economy of Digital Automation

The Political Economy of Digital Automation
Author: Sreenath Majumder
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 135
Release: 2020-08-31
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000171507
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With digital automation becoming ubiquitous, the relationship between man and machine is being redefined. This book, through a focus on America, identifies the tension this relationship has produced, and how it has divided America socially, politically, and economically, ultimately breeding two fundamentally incompatible nations within one: the “forgotten America” and “elite America.” This book enables the reader to visualize the changes brought by automation on our producer and buyer identities, and suggests policy changes that global leaders could adopt to deal with the increasing discord. The book is heavily dependent on a few fundamental concepts of both economics and sociology, such as globalization, labor economics, and cultural homogenization. The book is ideally suited to students and academics researching political economics and sociology, with focuses on globalization, unemployment, and the social impacts of technological advances.

Future Role of Sustainable Innovative Technologies in Crisis Management

Future Role of Sustainable Innovative Technologies in Crisis Management
Author: Ali, Mohammed
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2022-04-18
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1799898172
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The increasing use of innovative technologies by global businesses has sparked debate about their application in crisis resolution. Resolution tools can be used by global businesses to manage various types of crisis situations, such as natural disasters, information security issues, economic downturns, health crisis situations, and sustainability issues in education, among others. Further study and consideration of the uses of technology in the areas of crisis and change management and intra-company communication practice in the context of global business must be done to ensure successful and sustainable businesses. Future Role of Sustainable Innovative Technologies in Crisis Management raises awareness of the multifaceted field of new technology in crisis management that has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way contemporary industries and global businesses communicate and conduct their daily business operations. This book defines the scope of innovative technologies as the application of new technologies to support the resolution of various types of crisis situations to achieve regulatory compliance and improved risk management in an effective and automated manner. Covering topics such as sustainable business and disaster scenarios, this reference work is ideal for managers, entrepreneurs, researchers, academicians, scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.

The Technology Trap

The Technology Trap
Author: Carl Benedikt Frey
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2020-09-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0691210799
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From the Industrial Revolution to the age of artificial intelligence, Carl Benedikt Frey offers a sweeping account of the history of technological progress and how it has radically shifted the distribution of economic and political power among society's members. As the author shows, the Industrial Revolution created unprecedented wealth and prosperity over the long run, but the immediate consequences of mechanization were devastating for large swaths of the population.These trends broadly mirror those in our current age of automation. But, just as the Industrial Revolution eventually brought about extraordinary benefits for society, artificial intelligence systems have the potential to do the same. Benedikt Frey demonstrates that in the midst of another technological revolution, the lessons of the past can help us to more effectively face the present. --From publisher description.

Pandemics and Automation: Will the Lost Jobs Come Back?

Pandemics and Automation: Will the Lost Jobs Come Back?
Author: Tahsin Saadi Sedik
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 26
Release: 2021-01-15
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1513566849
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COVID-19 has exacerbated concerns about the rise of the robots and other automation technologies. This paper analyzes empirically the impact of past major pandemics on robot adoption and inequality. First, we find that pandemic events accelerate robot adoption, especially when the health impact is severe and is associated with a significant economic downturn. Second, while robots may raise productivity, they could also increase inequality by displacing low-skilled workers. We find that following a pandemic, the increase in inequality over the medium term is larger for economies with higher robot density and where new robot adoption has increased more. Our results suggest that the concerns about the rise of the robots amid the COVID-19 pandemic seem justified.

The Work of the Future

The Work of the Future
Author: David H. Autor
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2022-06-21
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0262367742
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Why the United States lags behind other industrialized countries in sharing the benefits of innovation with workers and how we can remedy the problem. The United States has too many low-quality, low-wage jobs. Every country has its share, but those in the United States are especially poorly paid and often without benefits. Meanwhile, overall productivity increases steadily and new technology has transformed large parts of the economy, enhancing the skills and paychecks of higher paid knowledge workers. What’s wrong with this picture? Why have so many workers benefited so little from decades of growth? The Work of the Future shows that technology is neither the problem nor the solution. We can build better jobs if we create institutions that leverage technological innovation and also support workers though long cycles of technological transformation. Building on findings from the multiyear MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future, the book argues that we must foster institutional innovations that complement technological change. Skills programs that emphasize work-based and hybrid learning (in person and online), for example, empower workers to become and remain productive in a continuously evolving workplace. Industries fueled by new technology that augments workers can supply good jobs, and federal investment in R&D can help make these industries worker-friendly. We must act to ensure that the labor market of the future offers benefits, opportunity, and a measure of economic security to all.