The pervasive fear that artificial intelligence (AI) will take over human economic livelihood has been felt in places like the manufacturing sector, as large swaths of the industry automate labor formerly done by humans. However, proponents of machine learning say ultimately AI and robotics will improve the way we do virtually everything, and ultimately create new jobs. Still, nearly 40 percent of U.S. jobs were slated as a "high risk" for automation by the early 2030s in a March 2017 report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). While the PwC report acknowledges it's unlikely all those jobs will be automated for "a variety of economic, legal, and regulatory reasons," PwC also acknowledges that new tech typically means the creation of new jobs for human workers as well, conceding "the net impact of automation on total employment is therefore unclear." Many technologists purport that the new job creation will offset some of the pain of displacement; retraining programs and continuing education opportunities are key to bringing in displaced workers into the new high-tech fold.

Enjoy it while it lasts. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin may think artificial intelligence (AI) isn't going to start taking humans' jobs for 50 to 100 years, but most experts believe a revolution in automation is coming far sooner, promising massive increases in efficiency -- and job losses on a huge scale. A recent study put out by PwC estimated that as many as 30% of UK jobs could be "susceptible to automation by robots and AI" by the early 2030s -- with 38% in the US at risk, 35% in Germany, and 21% in Japan -- although it believes jobs will be created elsewhere in the economy to help offset this. Are we doing enough to prepare? Absolutely not, says Bob Moritz, global chairman of consultancy firm PwC.

Twitter Inc's chief executive, Jack Dorsey, continued to forego direct compensation and Peter Fenton, a board member since 2009, will leave after the company's annual meet in May, a regulatory filing showed on Friday.

Eighty-four percent of businesses see the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as "essential" to competitiveness, while half view the technology as "transformative," according to Tata Consultancy Services' Global Trend Study released in March 2017. AI, once limited to experimentation within large enterprises and R&D labs, is becoming an accessible and cost-feasible tool for all market segments -- including entrepreneurs and the businesses they run. But, as was the case with cloud computing and big data, broader availability of AI does not by default translate into productivity gains, better customer service or operational efficiency. As vendors bake AI into existing workforce communications and collaboration solutions, they must keep an eye firmly fixed on areas where AI can improve productivity. Here are five ways AI can do just that.

"Our analysis suggests that up to 30% of UK jobs could potentially be at high risk of automation by the early 2030s, lower than the US (38%) or Germany (35%), but higher than Japan (21%)." They join the many such reports from academics, analysts and authors that filled an entire chapter titled "Sum of all Fears" in my new book, Silicon Collar. "The reality, however, is that when Oxford, MIT, McKinsey, and Gartner talk, the person on the street and even business executives typically just read the headlines, and when all of these big brands agree on something, it solidifies readers' overall impression--in this case, pessimism." The PwC analysis suffers from the same "lab rat" mindset of so many such studies. This comprised US data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) database, merged with automatability data from FO.

NEW DELHI: London-headquartered professional services firm EY is set to open its first artificial intelligence centre in Mumbai to help its clients figure out the best way to use these emerging technologies. The centre will bring together teams of multi-disciplinary practitioners, combining expertise in areas such as AI, robotics, machine learning and cognitive technology, along with domain experience in sectors, according to the firm. "The premise is that when any technology comes in, there is a lot of hype. Everyone talks about it but most don't know how to adopt it," said Milan Sheth, partner, advisory services and technology sector leader, EY India. He said that artificial intelligence is already being deployed across industries such as automotive, telecom and technology, but there is a need to help enterprises understand how they can best use these new technologies to their advantage.

West firms have been given a unique glimpse of the top tech themes for this year – and the impact they are likely to have on business – at a special event staged by accountancy firm Deloitte. Ever-greater use of smartphones, digital navigation, machine learning and – on the downside – the growth in cyber crime were outlined by Deloitte's technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) practice. The firm's head of TMT Paul Lee led the briefing staged at the Engine Shed, Bristol, and discussed key trends for this year as highlighted in the 16th edition of the firm's widely-respected TMT Predictions 2017 launched in January. He said the predictions particularly resonated with the West of England's digital tech ecosystem as it continued to be among the UK's most innovative and fastest-growing. Deloitte's key technology predictions for 2017 are: Deloitte predicts that one in 20 uses of digital navigation in 2017 will be indoors.

In the next stage of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, banks will use AI to help understand the intentions and emotions of customers for better interaction, a new report from Global professional services company Accenture said on Wednesday. According to the "Accenture Banking Technology Vision 2017" report, more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of bankers globally and 87 per cent in India believe that AI would enable simpler user interfaces eventually helping them create a more human-like customer experience. In addition, four out of five global respondents (79 per cent) and nearly nine out of ten (87 per cent) bankers in India believe that AI would revolutionise the way banks gather information and interact with customers. "Indian banks are embracing digital solutions for interacting with customers; the next step is implementing the enabling power of AI," Piyush Singh, Managing Director and Head of Accenture Financial Services group in India, said in a statement. According to the report, three-quarters (76 per cent globally) and 83 per cent in India believed that within three years banks would deploy AI as their primary method for interacting with customers.

Robots will not take everyone's job away. The male workforce with low level of instruction is the segment of the population that will pay the highest price of the technological unemployment, that Keynes predicted almost a century ago. At least, that is what the latest report from the English consulting firm PWC reveals. According to which, in the UK, 30% of existing professions will be automated by 2030. The three sectors that will be most affected are mechanics and routine laborers, in the areas of transportation (56%), manufacturing (46%) and wholesale (44%).

Up to around 30% of existing UK jobs could face automation over the next 15 years, but new AI-related technologies will also boost productivity and generate additional jobs elsewhere in the economy, according to new analysis by PwC in its latest UK Economic Outlook report. This involves looking in detail at the task composition of jobs in different industry sectors and occupations, using machine learning techniques to model the potential impact of AI in the future based on OECD data. The study estimates that the UK (30%) has a lower proportion of existing jobs at potential high risk of automation than the US (38%) and Germany (35%), but more than Japan (21%). PwC's analysis finds the likely impact of automation varies significantly across industry sectors: transportation and storage (56%), manufacturing (46%) and wholesale and retail trade (44%) have the highest proportion of jobs facing potential high risks of automation among the larger sectors. Education and health and social work are estimated to face the lowest risks of automation given the relatively high proportion of tasks that are hard to automate (see table below).