Recent progress in Artificial Intelligence has given rise to fears of technological unemployment, when a large part of the population will be replaced by robots in the workplace. That said, a number of companies operating in the sector are proving that these machines are meant to work with humans rather than replace them. 

On Saturday, May 27, Google’s AlphaGo faced off for the third time with world-renowned professional Go player, Ke Jie of China. Go is a board game, known for its complexity, it has long been considered too difficult for a computer to play because the number of possible combinations needed to win is much greater than the number of possible failures. However, AlphaGo surprised the public last year when it played head-to-head with one of the best players in the world, Lee Sedol of Korea. And after defeating Ke Jie 3 to 0 this weekend, the software has essentially proven its superiority. Some may recall the theory of the Singularity, a subject often defended by American entrepreneur and futurist Ray Kurzweil, and will see this as proof that no task is too difficult for AI, and that suchprogramming will surpass human intelligence in all sectors.

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47% of jobs could possibly be replaced by robots. 60% of careers in the future don’t exist yet. 50 % of skills currently considered valuable will be obsolete in the future.

We know the job market is in the midst of a major transformation, one that makes things uncertain for job seekers. It is thus necessary to invent a new model, that, rather than being imposed, should be built hand-in-hand with employees themselves.

Hackathons, internal entrepreneurial project incubators, innovations and so on, these are the kinds of initiatives companies have put into place to respond to innovation and better prepare employees for the future. But within these changes lies an opportunity for Human Resources to reinvent themselves, and focus on, what really matters: the “human” part of the job.

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We’re not yet done with the #LifeAtJulie series. This month, meet Vladan Djeric, Lead Developer at Julie Desk and our favourite expert when it comes to food, because, yes, he is also our Chief Foodie Officer!

You missed previous episodes of the series? Meet the rest of the team here.

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In a competitive job market, showing one’s complete and entire dedication to the job is considered the key to staying on top. In fact, it is often thought that working a few extra hours is the way to move up the corporate ladder, even if that means putting one’s personal life on hold. Slowly, but surely, the one takes over the other to the detriment of any real work-life balance.

So what are the pitfalls of such a problem and how do we solve them? Here are a few useful tips to maintain a balance between one’s personal and one’s professional goals.

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Unsatisfied with media coverage concerning artificial intelligence, researcher Zachary C. Lipton launched the blog Approximately Correct to do justice to his subject. According to Lipton, media coverage of artificial intelligence is based on approximate data and discusses speculative prophecies to the detriment of the true nature of AI innovation.

In an article entitled “AI’s PR problem,” Jerry Kaplan, an entrepreneur, writer and futurist based in San Francisco, posits that Artificial intelligence is the victim of fantastic exaggerations and misconceptions of all kinds. According to Kaplan, recent progress made in this sector has been susceptible to embellishment by the media giving it a false image. Because of this, technical advances as diverse as AlphaGo, self-driving cars and voice-activated virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa, are synonymous with the progressive development of super intelligence that is on its way to surpassing even the human mind.

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According to a study from the University of Warwick in England, the productivity of employees who feel “happy at work” is 12% superior to that of their colleagues.

But, what does it mean for an employee to be happy at work? And how can companies cater to that sentiment of happiness?

Before going further, let’s define “happiness at work”.

“Happiness at work involves safety and health in an organization run by competent leaders as well as a community of workers who feel that their work is meaningful and useful, and represent it as a factor in supporting the management of their lifestyle” - Definition from the European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO).

Value and implicate employees

Before even thinking about introducing services such as daycare, organic canteen and yoga classes, it is, therefore, necessary to cultivate a corporate culture that implicates and values each employee, no matter their hierarchic level. This recognition can be formal or informal: sending a simple email or a thank you card to an efficient employee, granting additional days off, celebrating a birthday or sending congratulations following a wedding or the birth of a child… There are plenty of ideas.

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