Artificial Intelligence and automation are often used interchangeably. While the technologies are similar, the concepts are different. Automation is often used to reduce human labor for routine or predictable tasks, while A.I. simulates human intelligence that can eventually act independently.

“Artificial intelligence is a way of making workers more productive, and whether or not that enhanced productivity leads to more jobs or less jobs really depends on a field-by-field basis,” said senior advisor Gregory Allen with the Wadhwani A.I. center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Past examples of automation, such as agriculture, in the 1920s, roughly one out of every three workers in America worked on a farm. And there was about 100 million Americans then. Fast forward to today, and we have a country of more than 300 million people, but less than 1% of Americans do their work on a farm.”

A similar trend happened throughout the manufacturing sector. At the end of the year 2000, there were more than 17 million manufacturing workers according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. As of June, there are 12.7 million workers. Research from the University of Chicago found, while automation had little effect on overall employment, robots did impact the manufacturing sector. 

“Tractors made farmers vastly more productive, but that didn’t result in more farming jobs. It just resulted in much more productivity in agriculture,” Allen said.

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According to our Fox News Polling, just 3% of voters expressed fear over A.I.’s threat to jobs when asked about their first reaction to the technology without a listed set of responses. Overall, 43% gave negative reviews while 26% reacted positively.

Robots now are being trained to work alongside humans. Some have been built to help with household chores, address worker shortages in certain sectors and even participate in robotic sporting events.

The most recent data from the International Federation of Robotics found more than 4 million robots working in factories around the world in 2023. 70% of new robots deployed that year, began work alongside humans in Asia. Many of those now incorporate artificial intelligence to enhance productivity.

“We’re seeing a labor shortage actually in many industries, automotive, transportation and so on, where the older generation is going into retirement. The middle generation is not interested in those tasks anymore and the younger generation for sure wants to do other things,” Arnaud Robert with Hexagon Robotics Division told Reuters.

Hexagon is developing a robot called AEON. The humanoid is built to work in live industrial settings and has an A.I. driven system with special intelligence. Its wheels help it move four times faster than humans typically walk. The bot can also go up steps while mapping its surroundings with 22 sensors.

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Researchers are able to create 3D models of pitchers, which athletes and trainers could study from multiple angles. (University of Waterloo)

“What you see with technology waves is that there is an adjustment that the economy has to make, but ultimately, it makes our economy more dynamic,” White House A.I. and Crypto Czar David Sacks said. “It increases the wealth of our economy and the size of our economy, and it ultimately improves productivity and wages.”

Driverless cars are also using A.I. to safely hit the road. Waymo uses detailed maps and real-time sensor data to determine its location at all times.

“The more they send these vehicles out with a bunch of sensors that are gathering data as they drive every additional mile, they’re creating more data for that training data set,” Allen said.

Even major league sports are using automation, and in some cases artificial intelligence. Researchers at the University of Waterloo in Canada are using A.I. algorithms and stadium camera systems to analyze Major League Baseball pitcher performance. The Baltimore Orioles joint-funded the project called Pitchernet, which could help improve form and prevent injuries. Using Hawk-Eye Innovations camera systems and smartphone video, researchers created 3D models of pitchers that athletes and trainers could study from multiple angles. Unlike most video, the models remove blurriness, giving a clearer view of the pitcher’s movements. Researchers are also exploring using the Pitchernet technology in batting and other sports like hockey and basketball.

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Overview of a PitcherNet System graphics analyzing a pitcher’s baseball throw. (University of Waterloo)

The same technology is also being used as part of testing for an Automated Ball-Strike System, or ABS. Triple-A minor league teams have been using the so-called robot umpires for the past few seasons. Teams tested both situations in which the technology called every pitch and when it was used as challenge system. Major League Baseball also began testing the challenge system in 13 of its spring training parks across Florida and Arizona this February and March.

Each team started a game with two challenges. The batter, pitcher and catcher were the only players who could contest a ball-strike call. Teams lost a challenge if the umpire’s original call was confirmed. The system allowed umpires to keep their jobs, while strike zone calls were slightly more accurate. According to MLB, just 2.6% of calls were challenged throughout spring training games that incorporated ABS. 52.2% of those challenges were overturned. Catchers had the highest success rate at 56%, followed by batters at 50% and pitchers at 41%.

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Triple-A announced last summer it would shift to a full challenge system. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in June, MLB could incorporate the automated system into its regular season as soon as 2026. The Athletic reports, major league teams would use the same challenge system from spring training, with human umpires still making the majority of the calls.

Many companies across other sectors agree that machines should not go unsupervised.

“I think that we should always ensure that AI remains under human control,” Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith said.  “One of first proposals we made early in 2023 was to insure that A.I., always has an off switch, that it has an emergency brake. Now that’s the way high-speed trains work. That’s the way the school buses, we put our children on, work. Let’s ensure that AI works this way as well.”

The effects of global warming and climate change are being felt around the world. Extreme weather events are expected to become more frequent from droughts to floods wreaking havoc on communities as well as blistering heatwaves and bone-chilling cold snaps.

While these will affect localized areas temporarily, one inescapable consequence of the increasing temperatures for costal communities around the globe is rising sea levels. This phenomenon will have even more far-reaching effects, displacing hundreds of millions of people as coastal communities are inundated by water, some permanently.

These South American cities will disappear

While there is no doubt that sea levels will rise, predicting exactly how much they will in any given location is a tricky business. This is because oceans don’t rise uniformly as more water is added to the total volume.

However, according to models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the most optimistic scenario is between 11 inches and almost 22 inches, if we can curb carbon emissions and keep the temperature rise to 1.5C by 2050. The worst case scenario would be 6 and a half feet by the end of the century.

Caracol Radio in Colombia asked various artificial intelligence systems which cities in South America would disappear due to rising sea levels within the next 200 years. These are the ones most at risk according to their findings:

The last two will be underwater by the end of the century according to modeling done by the non-profit Climate Central along with numerous other communities in low-lying coastal areas.

Their simulator only makes forecasts until the year 2100 as the above image shows for the areas along the northeastern coast of South America including Paramaribo and Georgetown.

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By Brandi Makuski

STEVENS POINT – The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is launching a new bachelor’s degree in artificial intelligence this fall, blending technical programming instruction with real-world application and ethical training.

The new Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence aims to prepare students for the evolving workforce demands in industries increasingly shaped by AI, including healthcare, manufacturing, and cybersecurity.

“It’s a new undergraduate program in computing, so there’s quite a bit of overlap with our existing computer information systems program,” said Associate Professor Tomi Heimonen. “But then we are offering completely new courses in AI. We’re covering everything from deep learning and neural networks to AI for security and natural language processing.”

The curriculum includes machine learning, cloud environments, AI-driven cybersecurity, and a senior capstone project that connects students with local partners. This fall, one project involves building a chatbot to help a local agency’s customer service team access internal policy information.

“I think the hallmark of all our courses is that it’s not just theory,” Heimonen said. “There’s a pretty heavy application emphasis in all of them.”

Students will also complete coursework in programming, data analytics and mathematics. A core component of the program emphasizes ethics in AI design, including fairness, transparency and human oversight.

“We’re not building terminators,” Heimonen said. “AI are systems that try to imitate human intelligence by taking in data, learning from it and then recommending actions or producing outcomes based on that data.”

The university’s decision to offer the program was influenced by market demand and workforce development trends. The program is backed by state funding and is one of only a few of its kind in the region.

“There’s definitely a gap between the number of trained professionals and what the workforce needs,” Heimonen said. “UWSP saw a chance to be one of the few institutions in the state training students specifically to work with AI straight out of their undergraduate and deliver talents to the needs of Wisconsin employers.”

Graduates will be equipped for roles such as software developers, computer systems analysts, and information systems managers. While “AI developer” may not yet be a common job title, Heimonen said employers increasingly value applicants with AI knowledge and skills.

“There has to be some guardrails,” Heimonen said. “If we’re going to trust AI to make decisions, we need to make sure those decisions are accurate, fair and conveyed in a way that can be explained to the user.”

More information about the program is available at uwsp.edu/programs/degree/artificial-intelligence.