Adoption of Fourth-Industrial-Revolution (4IR) technologies in sub-Saharan Africa could bring not only substantial economic growth and welfare benefits, but also social and economic disruption, including widening inequality if countervailing policies are not adopted, as discussed in our recent report. With a high share of the labor force working informally--a trend expected to continue for several decades--Africa's education and industrial policies need to strike a balance between encouraging private investment needed to create new formal jobs using advanced technology and ensuring that all new labor force entrants have the basic skills and infrastructure to make an adequate living. Much has been written about the current and potential disruptive effects in advanced economies, of the suite of new technologies called the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)--a group of technologies that fuse digital, biological, and physical innovation in applications such as advanced robotics using artificial intelligence, CRISPR digital gene editing, and the networks of sensors and computers called the Internet of Things. Studies estimated that globally in the manufacturing sector alone, 4IR technologies could create 133 million jobs by the end of 2022, but displace 75 million jobs, leading to a net gain of 58 million jobs. Researchers have demonstrated that in the U.S., the skill-bias of technological change in the production sphere disproportionately affected routine and middle-skilled occupations, creating an asymmetry of opportunities, earnings, and income between lower and highly educated workers, and exacerbating inequality trends.

The government's peak advisory body on tech and science has turned its attention to the development of an artificial intelligence ethics framework and lifelong learning of STEM skills. The National Science and Technology Council met for the third time in Brisbane last week, after it was launched to replace the Commonwealth Science Council in February this year. The meeting was chaired by Industry Minister Karen Andrews, with education minister Dan Tehan also in attendance. Council members include Professor Genevieve Bell, Professor Barbara Howlett, Professor Debra Henly and Professor Brian Schmidt. They were briefed on the government's progress in developing a national artificial intelligence ethics framework, and the "strong engagement" from stakeholders during consultation.

When new banking laws are passed, the text is written in legal language at the framework level. But to actually take effect, much of that language needs to be interpreted by regulators, then interpreted by financial executives and their bank operating staff, and then translated into technology-driven actions. That latter work is done by those who possess science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, skills, including software engineers, data scientists and a cadre of other professionals who wrestle with turning legal terms and regulations into actionable financial services activities through computer code and algorithms. It's important that those at the front end of this information -- legislators, regulators and financial executives -- become conversant in these skills, lest the back-end stumbles over meaning and intent and, in some cases, declares it impossible to be implemented. In his recent testimony before Congress, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, responded to many questions by referring to the company's use of artificial intelligence.

There are plenty of products out there that teach STEM skills, from robots you can code to kits for building musical instruments or games. But the "fun" is often short-lived. Most of the activity is rooted in the building process, and the final product is often too basic or simplified to be very interesting. By contrast, Dash Robotics and Mattel's new Kamigami robotic kits are very much focused on what kids do after they finish putting them together. They still get a sense of accomplishment and might pick up a few STEM skills in the process, but in the end it's really about having your very own cute bug bot to race, battle and customize.

One of the common themes in conversations about the future of employment is the idea of robots taking our jobs. Now it seems that there is a risk that the specific types of jobs that we are going to lose are the ones that help most with social mobility. According to a report published by UK charity Sutton Trust, the jobs that are most likely to be taken by developments in artificial intelligence are those that straddle the skilled and unskilled bracket. Identified by the paper as'paraprofessional', these roles are typically jobs that require no qualifications but are often entry-level positions. The general consensus about automation and the job market is that the purpose will be to take away menial parts of people's jobs to free them up to do more important work.