Assessing the social impact of technological change Technological innovations like increasingly sophisticated robotics tools, machine learning and artificial intelligence can improve business productivity, but they also have a wider impact on the labour market and society. Researchers in the Technequality project are investigating the social impact of technological innovation, as Professor Mark Levels explains. The
development of innovative technologies opens up new commercial opportunities and can improve business productivity, yet technological change is also by nature disruptive and can mean that some jobs are no longer necessary or economically viable. Much of the literature in this area addresses productivity issues and questions around how many jobs will be created or destroyed by new innovations, yet there is comparatively little on the impact of technological change on social inequalities. “Very little research has been done on which social groups would be most affected,” says Mark Levels, Professor of Health, Education and Work at Maastricht University. This is an issue at the heart of Technequality, a project bringing together researchers in several different disciplines. “The questions we try to address are at the intersection of sociology and economics. The impact of technological change on work, and workers, is very close to the heart of both economists and sociologists,” says Professor Levels. Industrial revolutions Researchers are addressing six main questions in the project around the impact of technological innovation, building on comparisons with previous periods of change, for example the shift towards using machines and new manufacturing processes
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in the first industrial revolution. The current period of technological change, commonly described as the fourth industrial revolution, is thought to mainly resemble the first in terms of social impact and disruptive potential. “The question here is, do new technologies augment labour, or are they a substitute for it?” outlines Professor Levels. Where previous technological innovations were mostly used for routine tasks like drilling holes or tightening screws, modern robotics and artificial intelligence tools can
at how to implement AI, robotics - or a combination of both - into their value chains, and Professor Levels believes growth could be rapid once these tools are more established. “Scalability is an issue. But if a chat-bot is trained for a company HR department, many of the questions it can answer will also be relevant in other companies. So, once you have something up and running, it can very easily be implemented in other environments,” he explains. In this scenario, the value of specific HR skills and knowledge
Automation is happening right now, and it will affect our lives. I would like people to start talking about this – if you have children, what subjects should they be learning about? now take on more complex tasks, which Professor Levels says is likely to affect the nature of work. “They can increasingly do things in a way that really mimics human intelligence, including decision-making,” he says. “The development of AI and robotics will have an impact on all economic sectors, including the service sector.” Many of these technologies are at an advanced stage, and the factors limiting their application are primarily cultural or organisational rather than technical. However, many companies are now looking
decreases; Technequality researchers are exploring the wider social implications of this technological shift. “What happens if social skills become more important than professional credentials? What does that do to social inequalities? What does it do for inter-generational mobility?” asks Professor Levels. “What are the consequences for education? Should we for example teach different subjects in schools?” The wider context here is the challenge of equipping people with the skills they need to be productive in the economy of the future,
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