Automation, digital platforms, and other innovations are changing the fundamental nature of work. Understanding these shifts can help policy makers, business leaders, and workers move forward. The world of work is in a state of flux, which is causing considerable anxiety--and with good reason. There is growing polarization of labor-market opportunities between high- and low-skill jobs, unemployment and underemployment especially among young people, stagnating incomes for a large proportion of households, and income inequality. Migration and its effects on jobs has become a sensitive political issue in many advanced economies. And from Mumbai to Manchester, public debate rages about the future of work and whether there will be enough jobs to gainfully employ everyone.

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your Automaton bloggers. We'll also be posting a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next two months; here's what we have so far (send us your events!): Let us know if you have suggestions for next week, and enjoy today's videos. We could watch these water drones swim and dive all day. They were developed by APIUM Swarm Robotics, which took them for a swim off of Catalina Island in California.

From crop dusting to package delivery, commercial drones are about to become a part of everyday life. "Just in the last 18 months, we've registered twice as many unmanned aircraft (as) we registered all aircraft from the previous 100 years," said Earl Lawrence, director of the Federal Aviation Administration's Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Office. To safely integrate the vast numbers of new unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into the nation's airspace, the FAA is relying on a group of 23 research institutions led by Mississippi State University. The Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE) is conducting in-depth studies on virtually every aspect of drone operations, including air traffic control, pilot certification and crash avoidance. "What happens when a drone hits a wing or a windshield or any other part of the aircraft is (one) of our key questions," Lawrence said.

When Afghan 10th-grader Fatemeh Qaderian learned that her girls' robotics team had been denied visas to attend an international competition in Washington -- despite applying twice -- the 14-year-old said she "lost hope." "We worked hard and spent a lot of time," said Qaderian, who flew back and forth with her teammates from their hometown in western Afghanistan to apply at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. "I called my parents and told them what happened, and they were upset, too." Those emotions morphed into elation as Qaderian and her teammates boarded a plane at Kabul International Airport on Friday morning en route to next week's competition, having been granted visas thanks to last-minute intervention by the Trump administration. "It's impossible to express how excited I am," Qaderian said.

Imagine doing your morning workout with the help of a virtual personal assistant that instructs you while you are at it and even encourages you to do another lap so that you can meet your fitness goals. A product of Delhi-based Boltt Sports Technologies, B is powered by artificial intelligence. "We launched Boltt two years ago.Arnav Kishore was a professional tennis player and tech freak. We started with smart shoes that can track all biomechanical data," said Aayushi Kishore, 27, who cofounded Boltt with her 24-year-old brother Arnav two years ago. Their family runs Globalite Retail, a sport lifestyle brand.

Like it or loathe it, being an entrepreneur means a lot of talking. Whether it's chatting at networking events, pitching to investors, selling your product to customers or explaining it to journalists, talking is a big part of what you sign up for. "Talking is the way you represent your brand; it's the way you build credibility in what you're doing," says Danish Dhamani, co-founder of Orai, an app that claims to make you a better public speaker. But talking – or rather, public speaking – wasn't something that came naturally to either Dhamani or business partner Paritosh Gupta. The pair met in their first year at university in Philadelphia, where they are still based.

Machine learning is a hot topic for developers, but where can one learn about how to use the technology? A lot depends on your current background and your long-term goals. I have already written about the basic differences between machine-learning techniques, but this was done at a relatively high level. Getting into the details can range from learning about machine-learning methodologies at an abstract level to examining deep-learning frameworks used to develop applications. Here, we'll take a more detailed look at some of the online resources available to you, and include links to websites with much more information about machine-learning classes, frameworks, and resources.

After twice being denied visas, a team of Afghan girls has been permitted to travel to the U.S. for a robotics competition. The team takes a photo at Herat International Airport on Thursday. After twice being denied visas, a team of Afghan girls has been permitted to travel to the U.S. for a robotics competition. The team takes a photo at Herat International Airport on Thursday. It has been an odyssey, but finally, a team of six Afghan girls will be able to travel to the United States to compete in a robotics tournament.

Members of Afghan robotics girls team which was denied entry into the U.S. for a competition, work on their robots in Herat province, Afghanistan. KABUL, Afghanistan -- The third time's the charm for Afghanistan's all girl robotics team, who will be allowed entry into the U.S. to compete in a competition after President Donald Trump personally intervened to reverse a decision twice denying them enter into the country. The six girls will now be able to participate next week against entrants from 157 countries. The Afghan girls have devised a ball-sorting robot, which has the ability to recognize orange and blue colors, and can move objects to put them in their correct places. This is such an important trip for us," said 15-year-old team member Lida Azizi, who was excited at the prospect of being able to compete. The White House on Wednesday said President Trump intervened to allow the team to come to the U.S. After looking at several options, the National Security Council eventually settled on "paroling" the girls, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Parole is a temporary status that allows a person who is otherwise ineligible to enter the United States temporarily because of an emergency or humanitarian purpose, or because it's considered in the public good. "It's a happy moment for our team," team manager Alireza Mehraban told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "We are going from a war-torn country and the purpose is to show the capability of Afghan women.

An all-girl robotics team from Afghanistan that was denied a visa to participate in the First Global Challenge robotics competition will be allowed to enter the US after all. The White House confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reversed the visa denials for the six teen girls, reportedly after President Trump personally intervened. The initial rejection and denial of an appeal was particularly heartbreaking for the team. They twice made a 500 mile trip from their Herat homes to the US embassy in Kabul to ace their interviews and secure the visas, despite danger and extreme heat. "We just wanted to show the power and skills of Afghan girls to Americans," 14-year-old Fatema Ghaderyan told the Associated Press.