Robots and the future of jobs

When it comes to the effect of AI and robots on the job market, there are two polar opposite narratives that you hear:

The first is, “As robots grow ever more sophisticated, they will eliminate jobs at a frenzied pace. The economic value of workers will dive as humans are unable to compete in the job market with the robots. Massive unemployment and social unrest are our future, while all along the 1% will grow wealthier."

The other one is, “We’ve heard that dystopian refrain for two hundred years. Technology is only disruptive to labor in the very short term. Versatile humans always learn to use the new technology to increase their productivity and value. The history of the US, at least, is one of almost constant near-full employment and rising standard of living.”

Which of these is true? Well, it depends on three different things, each of which is hard to estimate:
1) What is the true number of jobs that robots and AI will be able to do?
2) How quickly will they learn to do those jobs?
3) How many new jobs will be created by the new technologies?

It is true that we did go from an agricultural economy to an industrial one, eliminating the livelihoods of 70% of Americans. And it is true that those farmers went on to become higher-paid factory workers without a hitch. But all that took place over the leisurely course of more than a century. It is unclear how the economy and our society would handle the loss of, say, 15% of the jobs over a decade.

At Gigaom Change in Austin, we are going to dive into these questions as we look at different ways that robots are being deployed right now. We will explore the kinds of jobs which robots and AI will be able to do in the near future. (Hint: It is not just repetitive physical tasks.) And we will look at the impact that this transformation will have on a company… and on the world.

We invite you to come join the conversation. Gigaom Change is being held Sept 21-23. Early Adopter pricing is still available. Click here to register.

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Announcing NEW Security Security Conference

We’re excited to announce Structure Security – a new conference in our series dedicated solely to security in the digital age. In collaboration with an advisory board of security leaders, including Art Coviello (formerly with RSA Security), Alex Tosheff (VMWare), Laz Lazarikos (Sears Online) and a host of others, Structure Security will showcase leading experts in the tech-security space from companies including: Blackstone Intel Security Okta IBM Security and more to be announced soon… Join us September 27-28 in San Francisco. For a short time, we're offering an Introductory Rate ticket for $599, or you can snag a Buy One, Get a Buddy Pass for $1,100. Get yours now.   SPEAKERS   Art Coviello RSA Security Simon Crosby Bromium Diana Kelley IBM Jay Leek Blackstone Scott Montgomery Intel Security Paul Roberts The Security Ledger     SEPTEMBER 27–28, 2016 SAN FRANCISCO, CA REGISTER NOW   Click here to unsubscribe from this list. Our mailing address is: Structure 405 El Camino Real, #215 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2016 Structure All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend. Update your profile.

Structure News: Why Google thinks it has a winning hand

Where Birds Will Never Interrupt Your Conference Experience May 20, 2016 / by Tom Krazit This week, we'll talk about Israel's plans for a Silicon Desert (of sorts), Docker's week at OSCON, and Google's big nerdy concert at the Shoreline Amphitheater. STRUCTURE NEWS We’re continuing to add great advisers and speakers for Structure Security this September, with Oren Falkowitz of Area1 Security (pictured) joining the mix. We're particularly interested in discussing the social engineering problem of security with Oren: you can equip your people with the most secure network and best training, and fall peril to the most basic of phishing attacks nonetheless. Tickets will go on sale soon, so if you’re interested in getting a reminder from us when they hit the market, head on over here. And a brief programming note: I’m taking a week off next week to attend a friend’s wedding in Hawaii, a hardship I’m undertaking out of duty. So there won’t be a newsletter next week, but make sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for Structure updates. INDUSTRY NEWS HOW ISRAEL IS TURNING PART OF THE NEGEV DESERT INTO A CYBER CITY Some of the most influential and ground-breaking security companies have roots in Israel, and the nation continues to produce security professionals and technology at an amazing rate. The Washington Post takes a long look at Israeli government efforts to bring its array of security and technology talent together in a new city in the desert that it hopes will improve its already-formidable information security abilities. RANSOMWARE MAKER TESLACRYPT SHUTS DOWN AFTER RELEASING MASTER KEY Ransomware is a scary and growing problem that we’ll definitely talk about at Structure Security, but there was a little good news this week: TeslaCrypt released a master key allowing those affected by its ransomware to break out, Techcrunch reports. It’s probably not a huge consolation to those affected by ransomware, but it does show that a fix could be relatively easy in many cases if the perpetrators can be discovered early enough. IBM’S OPTICAL STORAGE IS 50 TIMES FASTER THAN FLASH Flash memory has been a boon to mobile computing because of its power consumption and stability, but it’s pretty slow for something named “flash.” Engadget reports that IBM has made a breakthrough with super-fast phase-change memory that increases the amount of data that type of memory can hold, which should help bring down costs over time to compete with flash. CHINA QUIETLY TARGETS US TECH COMPANIES IN SECURITY REVIEWS Remember when Congress threw a fit over potential security issues with Huawei routers and Lenovo computers in government applications? China is returning the favor and upping the ante, according to The New York Times, requiring U.S. companies to certify some capabilities of their products, even those destined for consumers. DOCKER OPENS CODE BEHIND NATIVE LAPTOP APPS Oscon seemed a little quieter this year than in the past, but Docker’s Solomon Hykes delivered a keynote address in which he addressed the concerns of some developers that Docker was too difficult to use on Macs and other laptops. Given that Docker’s whole reason for being is to making spinning up containers as easy as possible, the company decided to really focus on improving those native apps and has now released portions of that work as open-source code, according to ITNews. HOW FACEBOOK BLOCKS BAD CODE FROM THE OUTSET With over 1 billion daily users, Facebook’s apps and sites have the potential to cause all kinds of havoc if bugs or security holes make to production. The Parallax looks inside Facebook’s code review process to see how the company audits code for security problems before an array of hackers -- both good and bad -- have a chance to find holes. BIG PICTURE Google is in one of the most interesting positions in technology as the cloud and mobile computing trends mature. It controls one of the world’s two main mobile operating systems, enjoys one of the world’s most prominent web presences, is one of the world’s leading researchers in artificial intelligence, and is clearing a path for other companies to rent its computing infrastructure and tech expertise. Rivals to Google (or Alphabet, whatever) can’t match that combo: Facebook has a huge audience and AI smarts, but just torpedoed developer relations by closing Parse and doesn’t control a mobile platform. Microsoft has AI chops and cloud ambitions but has had mixed results in mobile and on the web. Apple is still selling boatloads of the most popular consumer tech product ever, but still fumbles about the web while its AI research appears to be guarded like a state secret. And Amazon has the cloud and the web customers, but has also had mixed success with mobile and seems behind this particular group when it comes to AI research. Google I/O, the company’s annual showcase of its worldview, offered several examples this week of why Google continues to show early critics that it was a one-trick pony a thing or two. Everybody mentioned above will continue to play a huge role in technology, to be quite clear, but the potential for overlap between Google’s projects is extremely interesting. Google announced (or previewed): -- a custom-built chip for machine learning that it will offer to cloud customers -- a strategy in which it will approach cloud customers as a backup alternative to AWS, not as a zero-sum competition -- an expansion of its Firebase developer platform, which received the biggest cheers of anyone gathered at the Shoreline Arena since the last Bridge School benefit -- and a mission to put its AI research into literally everything Google builds, which could be amazing, terrifying, or both Ambitious keynote proposals are part and parcel of the tech industry, and it will be very difficult for Google to execute on such a wide variety of projects to define the future of computing. Still, it’s easy to forget how broad a company Google is; even if Google-run projects don’t wind up at the top of the heap, it’s pretty obvious that Google is working on the right problems holding back the evolution of tech. Image courtesy Flickr user gilipollastv cc 2.0     DISCOVER MORE   Click here to unsubscribe from this list. Our mailing address is: Structure 405 El Camino Real, #215 Menlo Park, CA 94025 Add us to your address book Copyright (C) 2016 Structure All rights reserved. Forward this email to a friend. Update your profile.

Explore AI at Gigaom Change in September

The idea of artificial intelligence is an old one. But now, not only has it become a reality for businesses today, but a necessity as well.

Up until now, the AI products that we use on a daily basis tend to be very verticalized. They may be an expert system that can do one very narrow thing quite well, or a machine learning application which has one specific domain.

But now, things have changed. Now, broader AI systems which can ingest a wide range of data and provide intelligence on it are popping up.

When IBM Watson is presented the Jeopardy answer of “A long, tiresome speech delivered by a frothy pie topping” and knows the proper question is "What is meringue-harangue?", well, things just got rather interesting. But the story isn’t only Watson. A world of diverse AI technologies has emerged, each more exciting than the last.

When discussing AI, there is always a temptation to speculate on just how advanced it can get. And yes, at Gigaom Change, we probably won’t be able to resist a moment or two of discussion about it. But the real intention of the AI portion of our event in on what you can do today with AI in your organization to give you a competitive edge.

These are exciting times in technology, but they are also exciting times in business.  Come to Austin in September and join us as we explore the immediate AI opportunities available to companies today. The leading AI companies and thought leaders will be there, eager to explore the possibilities of using these technologies in business today.

Right now, you can register to attend at our Early Adopter pricing of $1150. The full price of an event tickets is $4000, so this is a substantial savings.  The event is expected to sell out, so I urge you to sign up today.

I hope to see you in September.

Byron Reese
Publisher, Gigaom

 

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Full Circle Newsletter

Gigaom Full Circle Newsletter Announcing Gigaom Change 05/13/16 Nanotechnology Virtual Reality 5 Incredible Trends That Will Shape Our 3D Printed Future Virtual Reality And A Parallel Universe Of Cyberclones 3D Printing Artificial Intelligence This 3D Printer Makes Robots That Can Walk Away as Soon as They're Done MIT builds Artificial Intelligence system that can detect 85% of Cyber Attacks Robotics Cybersecurity Tech trends 2016: Cybersecurity in the connected world A Study In The Interconnectedness Of Things Announcing Gigaom Change Stowe Boyd interviews Gigaom CEO Byron Reese about launch of new conference, Gigaom Change Stowe Boyd: Gigaom Change is a new event you're orchestrating. What was your motivation? Was there an itch you just couldn't scratch? Does the world need another tech conference? Byron Reese: Gigaom Change is something entirely new and different. There isn't another conference quite like it. It is based on the idea that a series of technologies are all converging on us at the same time, and they promise to a cataclysmic impact on the world.  The seven technologies we will be looking at are artificial intelligence, virtual reality/augmented reality, robotics, human-machine interfaces, nanotechnology, cybersecurity, and 3D printing. I have noticed that business leaders everywhere are having trouble keeping up with these technologies.  Everyone knows the high-level basic concepts, but this growing complexity is strangling corporate foresight and slowing business productivity. If you think about it, it is no surprise that these technologies are so overwhelming. Humanity has only faced real change three times in the past: When we got speech 100,000 years ago, when we developed agriculture 10,000 years ago, and when we invented writing 5000 years ago. We are literally going to witness the fourth major change, when our technologies upend our society and its institutions.  Business leaders need to understand how to use these new technologies. Continue reading at Gigaom. Virtual Reality Virtual Reality And A Parallel Universe Of Cyberclones   One of the biggest technology trends of 2015 was virtual reality (VR), from Oculus Rift to Google's cardboard headsets. TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 saw a lot of VR experiences where users could wear headsets and navigate an immersive 3D world. In Las Vegas, CES demonstrated a range of new gadgets and gaming experiences involving both VR and AR (augmented reality, e.g., Magic Leap). It is exciting to predict which killer app incorporating these technologies might become the next unicorn in 2016. But perhaps it is equally worthwhile to pause for a moment and ponder the implication of these technologies in the physical world, both in the near and distant future. Continue reading at Tech Crunch.  Artificial Intelligence MIT builds Artificial Intelligence system that can detect 85% of Cyber Attacks What if we could Predict when a cyber attack is going to occur before it actually happens and prevent it? Isn't it revolutionary idea for Internet Security? Cyber security is a major challenge in today's world, as government agencies, corporations and individuals have increasingly become victims of cyber attacks that are so rapidly finding new ways to threaten the Internet that it's hard for good guys to keep up with them. A group of researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) are working with machine-learning startup PatternEx to develop a line of defense against such cyber threats. The team has already developed an Artificial Intelligence system that can detect 85 percent of attacks by reviewing data from more than 3.6 Billion lines of log files each day and informs anything suspicious. The new system does not just rely on the artificial intelligence (AI), but also on human input, which researchers call Analyst Intuition (AI), which is why it has been given the name of Artificial Intelligence Squared or AI2.  Find more information at The Hacker News.  Cybersecurity Tech trends 2016: Cybersecurity in the connected world This year, cybersecurity will be the main issue vexing global business, firms say Allowing customers' data to be stolen by hackers is not good for business, firms are finally realising. It damages corporate reputations and erodes the public's "comfort with sharing their data", says Rashmi Knowles of cybersecurity company RSA. But the worrying news is that breaches are inevitable, warns Geoff Smith of Experis, while a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals is likely to push up the costs of beefing up defences and dealing with attacks. On top of this, new European data protection laws coming into effect in 2018 will see a "dramatic increase in fines" for data breaches, says James Mullock of law firm Bird and Bird, forcing firms to reassess their compliance procedures this year. Dedicated Data Protection Officers reporting to the board would be "a sensible measure", he says. Continue reading at BBC. Robotics This 3D Printer Makes Robots That Can Walk Away as Soon as They're Done Bringing the world one step closer to having real-life replicators like Star Trek promised, researchers at MIT's CSAIL lab have developed a new 3D printing technique that allows fully-functional robots to be created in a single print run. Add a motor and battery, and they're able to walk right out of the 3D printer. Typically, building something complex and animated with a 3D printer requires multiple print runs for all the various parts that then need to be assembled afterwards. The process is time consuming and about as far as one can get from a replicator that makes a mug full of piping hot Early Grey tea appear out of nowhere for Captain Picard to enjoy. Continue reading at Gizmodo. 3D Printing 5 Incredible Trends That Will Shape Our 3D Printed Future Self-repairing pipes. Printed organs. Bulletproof t-shirts. Seriously? In April I was asked to speak at the annual TED conference in Vancouver (following Bill Gates...gulp) on the topic of 3D printing production and its implications. I have detailed my thoughts on why the shift to 3D printing production is not only likely but inevitable in articles one, two and three in this series for Forbes. Now, let's take a step into a fascinating future, where daily life will be shaped by several powerful forces directly related to 3D printing production. What it will be like to live in a 3D-printed world? Imagine the effect of these five trends... Read the full interview at Forbes. Nanotechnology

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