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An expert explains which jobs will and won't be replaced by AI

5 September 2024 at 00:42

With the buzz surrounding AI and how it's likely to impact our lives, you may be wondering whether your job will soon be replaced by a computer.

There are some jobs at risk. A recent Forbes article lists eight types of jobs that will likely be eliminated first. They include roles that can become easily automated and have structured tasks, like retail checkouts and customer service.

Nick Bunker, a research director with Indeed, says AI has the potential to change the way the workforce functions.

"There are going to be some jobs that are gonna be more directly impacted by AI, generative AI, any new technology. But this seems like it could be a technology that affects sort of every job, at least indirectly," said Bunker.

And while AI is not expected to replace careers such as a computer programmer, Bunker sees the opportunity for AI to help augment the roles like these by making them more productive and efficient.

RELATED STORY | How businesses are increasingly embracing the use of artificial intelligence

Bunker also believes that AI isn't going to impact the job market overnight.

"We're going to have to see how people are using it, how it gets integrated, the different business cases for it and the different products before we can really feel the effect of this technology on labor market," he said.

While super intelligent algorithms can automate many tasks, it still can't replace human expertise and craft.

Freelancing platform Upwork looked at 119 professions that it says AI can't replace, including skilled trades like construction, public service posts like firefighting and healthcare positions like nurses and surgeons.

There's no doubt that machines an mimic human intelligence and AI has the potential to be transformative, but it could take quite a while before we see dramatic changes to the labor market.

RELATED STORY | More Americans are boosting their income with the help of artificial intelligence

Child polio vaccination campaign begins in Gaza amid humanitarian crisis

31 August 2024 at 22:33

A major effort is underway in Gaza as health officials work to protect children from polio.

Israel agreed to pause fighting in Gaza to allow for the vaccination of children against the disease, which was detected in sewage in June. The pause, starting on Sept. 1, is taking place over three days, with an option for a fourth day if more time is needed.

A ten-month-old unvaccinated child is the first confirmed human case of polio in Gaza in 25 years. The boy is now paralyzed in his left leg.

RELATED STORY | Israel to temporarily halt fighting in Gaza for children's polio vaccinations

With the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with open sewage on the streets, there is fear unvaccinated children are at greater risk of the disease.

"You find it in the wastewater, and when it causes polio," said Dr. Paul Offit of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "It only causes paralysis in about one of every 200 people, so you can assume that that strain is circulating and it's causing a much greater incidence of infection."

Health officials hope to vaccinate 640,000 Palestinian children under 10 years of age during the brief humanitarian pause. There are 1.3 million vaccine doses in cold storage in the region, which will be distributed from 160 vaccination sites.

RELATED STORY | Hostage freed from Hamas captivity by Israeli forces, IDF says

Officials say the tight timeline makes getting 100% of the children vaccinated extremely challenging.

"We are not doing house-to-house vaccination, people are moving, so the risk of missing children remains high," said Dr. Hamid Jafari, director of polio eradication for the World Health Organization.

Adding to the difficulty, children need multiple doses of the vaccine to be effective, weeks apart. According to the United Nations, if children dont get a second dose, the first will not be effective. Right now, there is no guarantee of a second humanitarian pause to finish the job.

Cruises are making a post-pandemic comeback. Here's how the industry is changing to meet demand

30 August 2024 at 23:37

For some people, it takes only one cruise to hook them for life.

That was the case for Stewart Chiron, who loved his first cruise so much he made a career out of it.

"It was a weekend cruise, and that was 326 cruises ago," he told Scripps News.

Known as "The Cruise Guy," Chiron started a cruise-exclusive travel agency 35 years ago.

"Cruising is an incredible way for people to connect, get together, to experience different cultures, different destinations," he said.

But the pandemic's impact on cruising numbers was enough to make even him uncertain about the future.

In 2019, 29.7 million people took cruises. In 2020 and 2012, 5.8 and 4.8 million took cruises, respectively.

RELATED STORY | Carnival cruise ship rescues 2 men stranded in the Gulf of Mexico

"With the pandemic hitting, the cruise industry completely shut down," Chiron said. "The ships were all anchored or docked somewhere around the world. I mean, it was a Herculean feat trying to get the crew back to their homes."

However, recent data from Cruise Lines International Association shows an epic comeback. Last year, the number of people taking cruises climbed to 31.7 million, a 6% increase from 2019. Its data is also forecasting 34.7 million passengers for next year, and nearly 40 million by 2027.

"The industry, I mean, they're shocked by how far out people are booking," Chiron said. "They've never been in a better book position at this time of the year for the next following years."

And the industry is putting in the infrastructure for that demand. According to the recent Cruise Ship Index, 15 newcruiseships are set to enter service next year, adding nearly 40,000 guest berths to the market. The industry is also expected to hire over 20,000 new crew members in 2025.

Cruise ships have also gotten much bigger. The industry campaign group Transport & Environment says the world's biggestcruiseships have doubled in sizesince 2000, which is raising environmental concerns.

RELATED STORY | Video shows Coast Guard rescuing pregnant woman from Disney cruise

According to a report from The New York Times, a single cruise ship docked for one day emits as much exhaust as 34,400 idling semitrucks.

"They have to keep their engines running in order to keep power on the ship while they're unloading passengers and cargo, and then of course loading passengers and cargo on the back end. Of course, that produces emissions," said Phil Ambrose, senior project manager at Seattle City Light.

That is why ports like Seattle's are investing in shore power, with which instead of idling on diesel while in the port, cruise ships can plug into a city's electric grid just like an electric car in a garage.

"Shore power is really important for the maritime industry as a whole," Ambrose said.

Right now, Seattle is working toward getting all of its piers equipped with shore power, and will with the completion of its Pier 66 project by the end of this cruising season in October.

While CLIA data says that 46% of cruise ships are capable of plugging into shore power, only 35 ports worldwide have shore power capabilities. That's 3% of ports; so although the industry is growing, the infrastructure to sustain it has further to go.

DOJ sues RealPage, alleging software contributed to meteoric rents

25 August 2024 at 00:43

The Department of Justice is filing an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a real estate software company, accusing it of orchestrating a scheme to coordinate with other landlords to raise prices nationwide using an algorithm to give high recommended rent prices.

"Everybody knows the rent is too damn high. And we alleged this is one of the reasons why," said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The lawsuit is being filed alongside attorneys general from eight states, including California and North Carolina.

In 2021 and 2022, rents exploded across the country. In the 50 largest metro areas, rents rose 19.3% over a year. It's tapered off since but has remained high for many renters.

RELATED STORY | When home prices make renting the smarter choice

RealPage has garnered scrutiny since 2022, when a ProPublica investigation suggested it could be one of the reasons behind that sharp increase.

The DOJ believes that this algorithm helped get landlords on the same page, undercutting competition that would usually help keep prices lower.

"Competing landlords agree to submit to RealPage on a daily basis their most sensitive nonpublic information, including rental rates, lease terms and projected vacancies. RealPage then combines this data from competing landlords and feeds it into an algorithm that provides real-time pricing recommendations back to the competing landlords," said Garland.

The company is not the only one to offer such software, but the lawsuit claims it's the largest in the industry, saying it controls 80% of the market.

"So make no mistake, training a machine to break the law is still breaking the law. Price coordination using AI is still price coordination. And monopolization advanced by an algorithm is still monopolization," said Lisa Monaco, deputy U.S. Attorney General.

RELATED STORY | Here's where rent prices are dropping and rising in the US

Detroit-based trial attorney Michael Jaafar believes this lawsuit is smoke and mirrors and wrongfully puts the blame for the housing market on a single private company whose services are not mandatory, even if it has a market majority.

"It's wrong. And I'll tell you why it's wrong: because RealPage is just a service. It's an analytics platform... It's not like they're providing a utility service that everybody has to use. It's not like it's the railroad," said Jaafar.

In a statement to the AP, RealPage said the suit is "devoid of merit and will do nothing to make housing more affordable."

This filing is the latest by the DOJ to try and tackle rising prices through antitrust suits, including against Apple and TicketMaster, something Jaafar disagrees with as the right move to combat high costs.

"The government is not concerned with making money. They're concerned with getting justice. The problem comes in when you have an administration that has political agendas," he said.

As both sides move to the next phase, Jaafar says RealPage has a battle ahead.

"Either you survive or you die. There have been websites that have just died under something like this. I don't think that would happen to RealPage. What RealPage is going to have to do is just fight this and fight this in the public spectrum," said Jaafar.

With a strike looming weeks away, Boeing and machinists union negotiate contract

23 August 2024 at 00:21

While the country's attention has been focused on the DNC and the race for president, Boeing and the union representing thousands of its machinists in the Pacific Northwest has been deep in around-the-clock contract negotiations.

Taking a short break from the 12-hour days spent in a downtown Seattle hotel, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, or IAM, District 751 president Jon Holden says, with 3 weeks to go, Boeing and the union representing its machinists don't yet see eye to eye.

"We've been meeting multiple times a day, spending hours with our committees, crafting proposals and counterproposals. And we are still far apart on many of the issues," said Holden.

This is the first time in 16 years that Boeing machinists are able to negotiate an entirely new contract.

"We're fighting for our current members, those that follow behind us but the whole region, the communities we live in, and we literally are fighting for everyone," said Holden.

RELATED STORY | Boeing grounds 777X test fleet after finding issue with key engine part

Earlier this summer, the 33,000 union members rallied and voted to authorize a strike if no agreement is made by the deadline, now weeks away.

Along with a large pay increase of 40% over 3 years, the union is fighting for better health and retirement benefits as well as getting the next all-new airplane built in Washington, which Holden says will provide crucial job security and help sustain the local economy.

And for the first time, the union is demanding articles in the contract that will guarantee that Boeing which has seen a cascade of controversies and quality issues since the Alaska Airlines door plug blow-out of Jan. 5 will give machinists more of a say in the safety and quality of the airplanes.

"We have never felt the need to propose those things in the past, but we do today. And it's our reputation that's at stake along with the company's. It's our jobs that are at stake. And it's important for us to have a say in any changes to the quality management system and how that impacts the production system and the quality of the airplane," said Holden.

Boeing told Scripps News that while their lead negotiator is not doing interviews, they say they are "confident we can reach a deal that balances the needs of our employees and the business realities we face as a company."

"A strike of this size in an industry and a company as important as Boeing will have a major impact," said Harley Shaiken, professor emeritus at UC Berkeley who specializes in labor and the global economy.

He says that while the flying public won't feel an impact at the airport when it comes to flight delays unless the strike lasts for a long time, this strike would set off a domino effect of impacts throughout both local economies where factories are and the global economy, as Boeing's suppliers depend on the company's success.

With the pressure that Boeing has been under lately to rebuild their public image and trust among stakeholders, that pressure is most likely being felt at the negotiating table

"They're going to have pressure from every side imaginable. And then some of the suppliers don't want to be idled, which is positively what happens if Boeing goes on strike," said Shaiken.

While negotiations continue, Shaiken believes with Boeing's reputation on the line, paired with momentum from recent labor victories across the nation, there's a chance this may end with a satisfied union.

"Better-paid workers with better benefits, but more competitive companies with higher quality: That's all a possibility. The 12th is the deadline. We may go right up to that deadline. A strike is certainly possible, but by no means assured," he said.

RELATED STORY | Boeing names new president and CEO following big second quarter loss

UAW files labor practice charges over Trump's interview with Elon Musk

15 August 2024 at 01:28

This week's Donald Trump interview with Elon Musk on X is getting pushback from auto workers.

The United Auto Workers union filed unfair labor practice charges after the two talked about firing striking workers during their Monday conversation.

"You're the greatest cutter, they go on strike and you say, 'That's OK. You're all gone," Trump said about Elon.

UAW filed separate charges against Trump and Musk with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that the men interfered with workers who may want to join a union. In a statement, the UAW wrote, "Under federal law, workers cannot be fired for going on strike, and threatening to do so is illegal."

The NLRB is looking into the charges. The AP reported that a senior advisor from the Trump campaign called the allegations "frivolous" and a "shameless political stunt."

RELATED STORY | Harris and Walz show their support for organized labor with appearance at Detroit union hall

For many politicians courting the labor vote, getting on the wrong side of unions doesn't help their cause.

"Workers are seeing the extent to which unions that are willing to fight for them can be a positive force in their lives," said Hayley Brown, research associate at the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

The U.S. Department of Labor says about 14.4 million Americans are in unions. That's about 10% of the workforce.

That's about the same rate as the year before, but it's down considerably from 1983, when about one in five workers were in unions.

Unions have regained some high-profile ground recently.

"Then these victories that happened, the strike and organizing victories, really inspired but also the anger that built up over the years of the concessions during the recession, the risk that workers took during COVID, it's just an enormous amount of anger, and particularly among young people who feel like they don't have a future," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, the director of Labor Education Research at Cornell's ILR School.

Support for unions is relatively high. The latest Gallup polling shows about 67% of those surveyed approve of unions. Three in four sided with the UAW in their latest negotiation, when they signed agreements with automakers that raised pay by 33%.

Bronfenbrenner says strikes and labor movements are contagious.

"Workers are seeing the extent to which unions that are willing to fight for them can be a positive force in their lives, and that having agency in your workplace is really important as a quality of life thing and also as an economic thing," she said.

More recent unions wins include a new contract for 28,000 flight attendants with American Airlines and a new contract for California Disneyland Resort workers that includes the biggest wage increase ever after a historic strike.

In Massachusetts, Uber and Lyft drivers could win union representation if a ballot measure is approved by voters in November.

There have also been some losses. Workers at two Alabama Mercedes factories rejected joining the UAW.

But that came after Volkswagen workers in Tennessee joined Β which was a key win in the South.

"That's sort of new territory for them," Brown said. "But we've also seen it with them getting these major contract wins. And when workers see unions having those types of successes, it makes them sort of think about how that might benefit them in their workplaces as well."

Amid the wins and losses, the political power of unions is being recognized by both Republicans and Democrats.

In a first for the GOP, a Teamsters president, Sean O'Brien, was invited to speak at the Republican National Convention.

The AFL-CIO, representing 60 unions and 12.5 million workers, has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.

RELATED STORY | Disneyland performers vote to join labor union after pay raise

Israeli airstrike on Gaza shelter kills at least 80, wounds nearly 50 others

10 August 2024 at 15:40

At least 80 people were killed and nearly 50 others were injured in an Israel airstrike early Saturday that hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza, local officials said.

The Israeli military acknowledged the strike and claimed the school was a Hamas command center, though Hamas denies that claim.

The facility, like most schools in Gaza, was being used to house Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes because of the war. But as of July 6, the United Nations reports 477 of Gaza's 564 schools have been directly hit or damaged in the war, with at least 21 strikes since July 4 leaving hundreds dead.

RELATED STORY | Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, as its new leader in show of defiance

Saturday's attack is now one of the deadliest since the war between Israel and Hamas began 10 months ago, and officials believe the death toll is expected to rise.

Fadel Naeem, the director of Gaza City's al-Ahli hospital, told The Associated Press the attack produced some of "the most serious injuries we encountered during the war," including severe burn wounds and many needing their limbs amputated.

Israeli airstrike on Gaza shelter kills at least 80, wounds nearly 50 others

A witness who worked at the shelter said many people were praying inside the school's mosque or were sleeping when the strike hit unexpectedly, with three missiles hitting the two-story building in total, the AP reported.

RELATED STORY | 9 UN staffers fired after probe into involvement in Oct. 7 attack on Israel

In a post on X, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces said the country's intelligence found at least 20 Hamas and "Islamic Jihad militants" operating inside the compound, "using it to carry out terrorist attacks."

The spokesperson also said an "initial review" showed Gaza's reports on the death toll, the "precise munitions used" and the strike's accuracy doesn't align with that of the IDF.

Meanwhile, National Security Council Spokesperson Sean Savett said in a statement that U.S. officials have asked their Israeli counterparts for additional details about the country's targets.

"We know Hamas has been using schools as locations to gather and operate out of, but we have also said repeatedly and consistently that Israel must take measures to minimize civilian harm," the statement read. "We mourn every Palestinian civilian lost in this conflict, including children, and far too many civilians continue to be killed and wounded. This underscores the urgency of a ceasefire and hostage deal, which we continue to work tirelessly to achieve."

Grants Pass, Oregon, designates camping areas to manage homelessness weeks after Supreme Court ruling

9 August 2024 at 02:27

In Grants Pass, the Oregon city that launched the Supreme Court case that reshaped how communities can approach homelessness, city councilors voted unanimously on Wednesday to designate four spots for camping, in a new effort to address local homelessness.

In three spots, camping is only allowed for 24 hours before a person must move to a different spot. In the other, campers can remain for 96 hours at a stretch.

Any person camping on any other public property will be given 72 hours' notice to move, as per Oregon state law. The penalty will be no more than a $50 fine.

The vote took place after passionate public comment, where some residents believed the measure went too far, and others not far enough.

"I don't want them in our parks, but I also don't want to create more of what we already have," said Grants Pass resident Mike Pelfrey during the public comment period.

"Everybody wants to sit up here and talk about where they should go and how many times they should move, how 'bout give them a home?" said Helen Cruz, a Grants Pass resident who also spoke during the comment period.

"There is no perfect plan, we're just doing the best we can, no matter what we do, no matter where we site these things, there are people who are going to be upset," said city councilor Brian DeLaGrange.

A Supreme Court ruling at the end of June said that penalizing someone for sleeping outside when there is not sufficient shelter available is not cruel and unusual punishment.

RELATED STORY | Triple-digit heat triggers excessive heat warnings in the Southwest, increased risks to the homeless

Since then, state and local leaders in the West and beyond have been cracking down on homeless encampments.

That includes California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who last month urged state agencies "to move urgently to address dangerous" encampments, which he says present threats to public health and safety to both the homeless and to others.

Escondido, California is set to do that, enacting a ban on camping in a couple of weeks.

Des Moines, Iowa also recently gave initial approval to fines for sleeping on public property. Camping bans have also been introduced in a couple places in Minnesota.

Proponents believe it's the communities themselves that should have the power to decide what's best in handling homelessness.

"You go and you enforce these bans, but you don't provide an alternative for folks, then they're just going to be displaced," said Sarah Hunter, the director of the Rand Center on Housing and Homeless.

She says the center's research in California shows that encampment sweeps did not result in long-term decreases in unhoused people. In another study, researchers found that displacements from sweeps increase mortality and hospitalizations.

"What we're going to see is just like an increased cost to society, not only for the enforcement of the encampments, but also folks then cycling in and out of emergency rooms, people dying prematurely because of these displacements," she said.

Hunter hopes that while communities work to address camping, they also make efforts to create housing opportunities and follow research-backed approaches.

RELATED STORY | DC charity helps those who are homeless get housing

NTSB begins hearings in Alaska Airlines door plug blow out investigation

7 August 2024 at 00:10

"Chaos" and "an explosive experience" is how the co-pilot and captain described being on board a Boeing 737 that suffered a midflight blowout in January.

"This was quite traumatic for the crew and the passengers and injuries we can't see, which we often don't talk about, can have profound, lasting impacts on lives and livelihoods," said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board

Federal investigators with the NTSB began its two-day hearing Tuesday with Boeing and the company's manufacturers to better understand what led up to midflight blowout.

The fuselage of the plane and the door plug was made in Wichita, Kansas, by Spirit Aerosysyems. Spirit then shipped the fuselage last summer to Boeing's Renton, Washington, facility.

RELATED STORY | Boeing names new president and CEO following big second quarter loss

The plug was taken off when to fix some damaged rivets, but the bolts of the plug were never reinstalled when the plug was put back into place. It's still not clear who took the door plug off at the Renton facility.

The NTSB also released more than 3,000 pages of documents with details and transcripts of interviews with workers, including contractors who said they felt like the "cockroaches of the factory," working six to seven days a week, with major pressure from Boeing.

Other workers interviewed by the NTSB said that the company's safety culture was "garbage."

In an interview during a lunch break, Homendy told reporters: "These are known issues. Again, why does it take a serious tragedy which could have been so much more serious for change to occur?"

"Going into all of this with the 737 Max, and it would really apply to all businesses, frankly, not just airline manufacturers, is that clearly they took their eye off the ball and and they're paying a huge price," said Chris Dane, the president of Hickory Global Partners who has five decades of experience in the aerospace industry.

Despite the high price Boeing is paying, he believes the company is on the right path to fix its quality and culture issues. However, it may take time for the public to believe that.

"They need to fix it and they need to fix it quickly," Dane added. "And it looks like, like they are, they're on that road, but it's going to take some time for that for the perception to catch up to the reality."

RELATED STORY | FAA orders inspections on 2,600 Boeing planes over oxygen mask issue

"Since the accident, as a part of our ongoing dialog with the FAA and our comprehensive quality and safety plan, we have established a set of six key performance indicators or KPIs that we are using to roll up and indicate a healthy factory," said Elizabeth Lund, senior VP of quality at Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Lund was hired in her role in February, and noted during the hearing the company's plans to improve factory safety plans and inspection processes.

Since the Alaska Airlines blowout, production of 737 Max jets dropped below ten per month. It has been steadily increasing to more than 20 planes per month.

The hearing will continue Wednesday.

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