Atlas and Spot won't have blank spaces on their resumes. The Boston Dynamics robots, famous for their YouTube parkour and dancing exploits, could land a position in a heartbeat, as can many non-human job-seekers, part of the wave of robot hires amid a human worker shortage. As the Associated Press reported, the pandemic ushered in these workplace changes. Companies are starting to automate service sector jobs, thanks to higher labor costs and the aforementioned worker shortages. Machines can do many tasks such as toss pizza dough, transport hospital linens, inspect gauges and sort goods.

California's high poverty rate, low wages and frayed public safety net require a new "social compact" between workers, business and government, according to a report by a blue-ribbon commission that highlights the state's widening inequality. In a report released Monday, the Future of Work Commission, a 21-member body appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in August 2019, laid out a grim picture of the challenges facing the world's fifth-largest economy, even as it acknowledged the Golden State's technology leadership, its ethnically and culturally diverse workforce and world-class universities. "Too many Californians have not fully participated in or enjoyed the benefits of the state's broader economic success and the extraordinary wealth generated here, especially workers of color who are disproportionately represented in low-wage industries," the report says. California has the highest poverty rate in the country when accounting for the cost of living, 17.2%, according to the report. Since 2012, wages in the state grew by 14% while home prices increased by 68%.

An increasing number of Twitter and LinkedIn influencers preach why you should start learning Machine Learning and how easy it is once you get started. While it's always great to hear some encouraging words, I like to look at things from another perspective. I don't want to sound pessimistic and discourage no one, I'll just give my opinion. While looking at what these Machine Learning experts (or should I call them influencers?) Maybe the main reason comes from not knowing what do Machine Learning engineers actually do.

An increasing number of Twitter and LinkedIn influencers preach why you should start learning Machine Learning and how easy it is once you get started. While it's always great to hear some encouraging words, I like to look at things from another perspective. I don't want to sound pessimistic and discourage no one, I'm just trying to give an objective opinion. While looking at what these Machine Learning experts (or should I call them influencers?) Maybe the main reason comes from not knowing what do Machine Learning engineers actually do. It certainly isn't easy to master Machine Learning as influencers preach.

One of the most spectacular facts of the last two centuries of economic history is the exponential growth in GDP per capita in most of the world. Figure 1 shows the rise (and the difference) in living standards for five countries since 1000 AD. This economic progress, unprecedented in human history, would be impossible without major breakthroughs in technology. The economic historian Joel Mokyr has argued that the Enlightenment in Britain brought new ways to transfer scientific discoveries into practical tools for engineers and artisans. The steam engine, electricity, sanitation are examples of technological discoveries that propelled the engine of economic growth, increasing standards of living across the planet.

The rise of the machine economy risks social disruption by widening the gap between rich and poor in Britain, as automation threatens jobs generating £290bn in wages. Jobs accounting for a third of annual pay in the UK risk being automated, according to the study by the IPPR thinktank. Warning that low-paid roles are in the greatest danger, it urged ministers to head off the prospect of rising inequality by helping people retrain and share in the benefits from advances in technology. The study for the IPPR's commission on economic justice, which features senior business and public figures including the archbishop of Canterbury, called on the government to take a greater role in managing the adoption of robotics, artificial intelligence and other methods of job automation in the workforce. Mathew Lawrence, a senior research fellow at the IPPR, said: "Managed badly, the benefits of automation could be narrowly concentrated, benefiting those who own capital and highly skilled workers. The IPPR estimates that 44% of jobs in the UK economy could feasibly be automated, equating to more than 13.7 million people who together earn about £290bn. Although it doesn't give a forecast for how long this would take, it cited US research which estimates the changes could occur over the next 10 or 20 years. From the collective pay pool worth £290bn, middle-income jobs such as call-centre workers, secretaries and factory workers are likely to be hollowed out. Low-skilled workers could also lose their jobs or face fewer hours from greater levels of automation. At the same time the highest earners and workers able to retrain will gain higher pay thanks to rising productivity – which means more output being generated per hour worked. The research follows similar studies warning of the risks arising from the current rapid advances in technology, which have enabled machines to take on work that was once the preserve of humans. The Bank of England has said as many as 15m jobs in Britain are under threat. Measures called for in the IPPR report include a UK skills system to help retrain those affected by the introduction of machines into the workforce, as well as an ethics watchdog to oversee the use of automating technologies modelled on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which regulates embryo research. Ministers are also being urged to consider new models of company ownership in the face of increasing returns to asset owners, because rising automation could result in higher profits for those who own companies - at the expense of workers' salaries. Carys Roberts, a research fellow at the IPPR, said: "Some people will get a pay rise while others are trapped in low-pay, low-productivity sectors.