A visitor takes pictures of a robot during an exhibition on 'Neom', a new business and industrial city, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters
A visitor takes pictures of a robot during an exhibition on 'Neom', a new business and industrial city, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters

What does the future of work look like? Well, the outlook is rosier than you think



"I like work: It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours." The words of the English writer Jerome K Jerome have a strong humorous appeal, but they also sum up increasingly important studies of what work might mean for most of us 10, 20 or 50 years from now. Will work in the future mean a life of leisure and pleasure? Or boredom and human uselessness? In Britain a study by the think tank Future Advocacy claims one in five British jobs could be automated by 2030. Work as we know it now will be made obsolete by robots and artificial intelligence, and economies all over the world will face enormous dislocation in employment.

At a Future of Work conference in Paris, one speaker revealed that the most common job in the US in the 1960s was "secretary". He asked the largely business audience how many of those present had a secretary today, and no hands went up. Then the speaker showed a map of the United States with the most popular job nowadays identified state by state: "trucker". But for how long? Trucking companies worldwide are considering when to commit to driverless vehicles. The first company to get rid of drivers successfully will have a competitive advantage. Others will be forced to follow, or price themselves out of the market. Driverless cars, another speaker said, could Out-Uber Uber, because any driverless car owner could rent out the vehicle when not in use, putting traditional taxis, minicabs and perhaps even Uber out of business. Well, maybe.

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Economists, business specialists and other big thinkers at the conference suggested two possible futures for human workers. One is Leisure Heaven, the other Workless Hell. In the first scenario, human lives will be full of leisure and fun. We will no longer be burdened with dreary repetitive work. The robots will do it, and we will enjoy life. In the second scenario, yes, the robots still take our jobs but instead of enjoying new freedoms we are left miserable, unemployable and useless. Over the next few years you are much more likely to see futuristic novels and movies about the hellish vision of our future. That’s because film-makers, novelists and (let’s be honest) journalists, know that scaring people half to death is more likely to make them watch the film, read the book or buy the newspaper. But the possibility of a better future is worth considering.

In our happy leisure-filled future, instead of humans sitting in a truck, factory or office performing routine tasks, all over the world robots will do the boring, repetitive, and dangerous stuff. You and I will be free to study, pursue hobbies, do voluntary work, go to the gym, socialise, help other people. We will live longer, healthier, better lives, and we will invent new ways to be creative and have more fun. But there is an obvious catch. How do we feed our families? How do we earn money? The thinkers at the conference suggested governments and businesses would reward more generously jobs which only humans can do. That means currently low paid jobs will be much in demand. Nurses, carers, those looking after the old or children, any profession which involves one-to-one human contact, actors, teachers, sports instructors, might actually find their pay goes up. Ah, but the miserable types argued that it will not be so pleasant. Instead we stupid humans will become increasingly irrelevant. Work will become a privilege enjoyed only by the super-rich, the people who own the companies which produce the robots. The rest of us will be kept in line with some kind of welfare, perhaps  a universal wage. One suggestion that was very odd, but not impossible, is that governments would supply us all with endless, sophisticated entertainment including free video games. We would be encouraged to game our stupid lives away to keep us out of trouble.

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So here's a reality check. Humankind has been written off in the past. The industrial revolution did destroy jobs, but it created many more. Some 30 years ago no-one predicted how emails, smartphones, Apple, Skype, WhatsApp, Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon would change not just our social lives but our work practices too. The best of humanity, as the historian Yuval Noah Harari noted in his book Sapiens, is that we survive because we communicate and therefore can co-operate. That is surely a reason not to dismiss the optimistic scenario. The Nobel laureate Niels Bohr once quipped that "prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." At the Future of Work conference I wondered if a century ago, in 1917, anyone would have predicted that in our own time, 2017, my "work" would involve sitting in a conference centre in Paris, eating wonderful French food and engaging in debates with economists, business people, writers and thinkers, speculating about the next 100 years. If that's the future of work, then please, please can I have more of it?

How to protect yourself when air quality drops

Install an air filter in your home.

Close your windows and turn on the AC.

Shower or bath after being outside.

Wear a face mask.

Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.

If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.

How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
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Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press 

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Strait of Hormuz

Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.

The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.

Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.

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Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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BRAZIL SQUAD

Alisson (Liverpool), Daniel Fuzato (Roma), Ederson (Man City); Alex Sandro (Juventus), Danilo (Juventus), Eder Militao (Real Madrid), Emerson (Real Betis), Felipe (Atletico Madrid), Marquinhos (PSG), Renan Lodi (Atletico Madrid), Thiago Silva (PSG); Arthur (Barcelona), Casemiro (Real Madrid), Douglas Luiz (Aston Villa), Fabinho (Liverpool), Lucas Paqueta (AC Milan), Philippe Coutinho (Bayern Munich); David Neres (Ajax), Gabriel Jesus (Man City), Richarlison (Everton), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Rodrygo (Real Madrid), Willian (Chelsea).

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder turbo

Transmission: CVT

Power: 170bhp

Torque: 220Nm

Price: Dh98,900

If you go

The flights
Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Luang Prabang via Bangkok, with a return flight from Chiang Rai via Bangkok for about Dh3,000, including taxes. Emirates and Thai Airways cover the same route, also via Bangkok in both directions, from about Dh2,700.
The cruise
The Gypsy by Mekong Kingdoms has two cruising options: a three-night, four-day trip upstream cruise or a two-night, three-day downstream journey, from US$5,940 (Dh21,814), including meals, selected drinks, excursions and transfers.
The hotels
Accommodation is available in Luang Prabang at the Avani, from $290 (Dh1,065) per night, and at Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp and Resort from $1,080 (Dh3,967) per night, including meals, an activity and transfers.

THE BIG THREE

NOVAK DJOKOVIC
19 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 5 (2011, 14, 15, 18, 19)
French Open: 2 (2016, 21)
US Open: 3 (2011, 15, 18)
Australian Open: 9 (2008, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21)
Prize money: $150m

ROGER FEDERER
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 8 (2003, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12, 17)
French Open: 1 (2009)
US Open: 5 (2004, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Australian Open: 6 (2004, 06, 07, 10, 17, 18)
Prize money: $130m

RAFAEL NADAL
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 2 (2008, 10)
French Open: 13 (2005, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
US Open: 4 (2010, 13, 17, 19)
Australian Open: 1 (2009)
Prize money: $125m

TRAP

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Rating: 3/5

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

From exhibitions to the battlefield

In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.

It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.

It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.

It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.

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The biog

Fast facts on Neil Armstrong’s personal life:

  • Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio
  • He earned his private pilot’s license when he was 16 – he could fly before he could drive
  • There was tragedy in his married life: Neil and Janet Armstrong’s daughter Karen died at the age of two in 1962 after suffering a brain tumour. She was the couple’s only daughter. Their two sons, Rick and Mark, consulted on the film
  • After Armstrong departed Nasa, he bought a farm in the town of Lebanon, Ohio, in 1971 – its airstrip allowed him to tap back into his love of flying
  • In 1994, Janet divorced Neil after 38 years of marriage. Two years earlier, Neil met Carol Knight, who became his second wife in 1994 
The five pillars of Islam
SPECS

Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: N2 Technology

Founded: 2018

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Startups

Size: 14

Funding: $1.7m from HNIs

Name: Colm McLoughlin

Country: Galway, Ireland

Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free

Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club

Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah

 

The biog

Name: Abeer Al Shahi

Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan

Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.

Favourite activities: Bungee jumping

Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.

Company profile

Date started: December 24, 2018

Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer

Based: Dubai Media City

Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)

Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech

Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year

Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020