Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Working Beside Robots: A Glimpse into the Future

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Smart and Sustainable Collaborative Networks 4.0 (PRO-VE 2021)

Part of the book series: IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology ((IFIPAICT,volume 629))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 1905 Accesses

Abstract

Automation throughout history has caused profound changes in employment dynamics. With the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, a new threat may affect employability, as robots and AI-based processes can now assume tasks considered exclusive to humans. This position paper aims to motivate the study of the effects of AI and automation on employability, extending it into a collaborative network perspective. The problem is firstly observed from a historical perspective. The collaboration aspects are considered through the analysis of two case studies. Results suggest that a latent element of collaborative networks, complexity, may have effects in terms of employability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Huws, U.: Labor in the Global Digital Economy: The Cybertariat Comes of Age. NYU Press (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Marques, A.P., Chaves, M., Serra, H., Urze, P.: Introdução-Imaginar “futuros” do trabalho, contextos e vivências subjetivas. Configurações [Online], 24 | 2019. https://doi.org/10.4000/configuracoes.7620

  3. Marien, M.: The second machine age: work, progress, and prosperity in a time of brilliant technologies. Cadmus 2, 174 (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Frey, C.B., Osborne, M.A.: The future of employment: how susceptible are jobs to computerisation? Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang. 114, 254–280 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Virgillito, M.E.: Rise of the robots: technology and the threat of a jobless future. Labor Hist. 58, 240–242 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Boyd, R., Holton, R.J.: Technology, innovation, employment and power: does robotics and artificial intelligence really mean social transformation? J. Sociol. 54, 331–345 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Manyika, J., et al.: Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained: Workforce Transitions in a Time of Automation, p. 150. McKinsey Global Institute (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  8. David, H.: Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. J. Econ. Perspect. 29, 3–30 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. McGuinness, S., Pouliakas, K., Redmond, P.: Skills-displacing technological change and its impact on jobs: challenging technological alarmism? Econ. Innov. New Technol., 1–23 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Vox: The big debate about the future of work, explained. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUmyygCMMGA. Accessed 15 Jan 2021

  11. Ferrucci, D., Levas, A., Bagchi, S., Gondek, D., Mueller, E.T.: Watson: beyond jeopardy! Artif. Intell. 199, 93–105 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Levy, F., Murnane, R.J.: The New Division of Labor: How Computers are Creating the Next Job Market. Princeton University Press (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  13. McKendrick, J.: Artificial intelligence will replace tasks, not jobs. Forbes (2018). https://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2018/08/14/artificial-intelligence-will-replace-tasks-not-jobs

  14. Shapiro, C., Carl, S., Varian, H.R., et al.: Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy. Harvard Business Press (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Metcalfe, B.: Metcalfe’s law after 40 years of ethernet. Computer 46, 26–31 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Evans, D.S., Schmalensee, R.: Failure to launch: Critical mass in platform businesses. Rev. Netw. Econ. 9, 1–34 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Briscoe, B., Odlyzko, A., Tilly, B.: Metcalfe’s law is wrong-communications networks increase in value as they add members-but by how much? IEEE Spectr. 43, 34–39 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hendler, J., Golbeck, J.: Metcalfe’s law, web 2.0, and the semantic web. J. Web Semant. 6, 14–20 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Peterson, T.: Metcalfe’s law as a model for bitcoin’s value. Altern. Investment Anal. Rev. 7(2), 9–18 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Fidler, D.: Here’s How Managers Can Be Replaced by Software. https://hbr.org/2015/04/heres-how-managers-can-be-replaced-by-software. Accessed 15 Jan 2021

  21. Howells, R.: How the network effect enables a global supply chain. Forbes, 16 February 2021

    Google Scholar 

  22. Potts, J., Mandeville, T.: Toward an evolutionary theory of innovation and growth in the service economy. Prometheus 25, 147–159 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Yang, B., Yang, Y.: Postponement in supply chain risk management: a complexity perspective. Int. J. Prod. Res. 48, 1901–1912 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Serdarasan, S.: A review of supply chain complexity drivers. Comput. Ind. Eng. 66, 533–540 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Hartley, J.L., Sawaya, W.J.: Tortoise, not the hare: digital transformation of supply chain business processes. Bus. Horiz. 62, 707–715 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Ageron, B., Bentahar, O., Gunasekaran, A.: Digital supply chain: challenges and future directions. Supply Chain Forum Int. J. 21, 133–138 (2020)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Scherrer-Rathje, M., Arnoscht, J., Egri, P., Braun, E., Csáji, B.C., Schuh, G.: A generic model to handle complexity in collaborative networks. In: PICMET’09-2009 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering & Technology, pp. 271–287. IEEE (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Urze, P., Osório, A.L., Afsarmanesh, H., Camarinha-Matos, L.M.: A balanced sociotechnical framework for collaborative networks 4.0. In: Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Afsarmanesh, H., Ortiz, A. (eds.) PRO-VE 2020. IAICT, vol. 598, pp. 485–498. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62412-5_40

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  29. Wong, A.: The laws and regulation of AI and autonomous systems. In: Strous, L., Johnson, R., Grier, D.A., Swade, D. (eds.) Unimagined Futures – ICT Opportunities and Challenges. IAICT, vol. 555, pp. 38–54. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64246-4_4

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work has also been partially funded by the Center of Technology and Systems (CTS) – UNINOVA, and the Portuguese FCT Foundation project UIDB/00066/2020, and by Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT) and the Portuguese FCT Foundation project UIDB/00286/2020.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, Caparica, Portugal

    Paula Urze, João Rosas & Luis M. Camarinha-Matos

  2. Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), Lisbon, Portugal

    Paula Urze

  3. Center of Technology and Systems (CTS), UNINOVA, Caparica, Portugal

    João Rosas & Luis M. Camarinha-Matos

Authors
  1. Paula Urze
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. João Rosas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Luis M. Camarinha-Matos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paula Urze .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NOVA University of Lisbon, Caparica, Portugal

    Luis M. Camarinha-Matos

  2. Mines Saint-Étienne, Saint-Étienne, France

    Xavier Boucher

  3. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Hamideh Afsarmanesh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Urze, P., Rosas, J., Camarinha-Matos, L.M. (2021). Working Beside Robots: A Glimpse into the Future. In: Camarinha-Matos, L.M., Boucher, X., Afsarmanesh, H. (eds) Smart and Sustainable Collaborative Networks 4.0. PRO-VE 2021. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 629. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85969-5_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85969-5_12

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-85968-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85969-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Societies and partnerships

Search

Navigation