More Blue-Collar Jobs Will Be At Risk With AI Advancements
The rapid advance of generative artificial intelligence in the manufacturing industry could potentially affect blue-collar and physical labor jobs.
A Goldman Sachs analysis earlier this year found that a new wave of AI systems could “expose 300 million full-time jobs to automation.”
A major concern for the potential displacement of workers still looms as AI automates certain tasks, enhances safety measures, and increases overall productivity. Among the positions at risk from automation include factory workers, welders, nuclear technicians, elevator installers, and subway operators.
Businesses should consider the impact on the workforce and implement strategies to mitigate these risks. For example, Gen AI models can act as a “digital twin” for a production line or plant, according to Ed Watal, founder and principal of IT strategy firm Intellibus, and can cut down operation costs.
“As Gen AI gets applied to computer vision and becomes more multi-modal, allowing people to upload an image or video and ask questions about it, more blue-collar jobs will be at risk,” Watal said.
Here are some examples of how AI has integrations into blue-collar jobs.
Manufacturing: Human errors in manufacturing can be catastrophic and costly. AI-powered machines are designed to work 24/7 without fatigue, leading to higher production rates and improved product quality control. These machines perform repetitive tasks such as assembly line operations.
Logistics: While AI-powered robots can efficiently sort, pick, pack, and organize inventory, AI algorithms also optimize delivery routes, reduce transportation costs, and improve supply chain management. From traffic conditions to weather, and delivery schedules, AI-powered systems can analyze large amounts of data. With the rise of cutting-edge technologies, humans remain at the center of transportation.
Construction: Today’s construction sites are integrating more tech, and AI that analyzes data faster and with more insight is in high demand. It could deliver improvements to energy usage and carbon calculations. AI deploys building-enabled drones and robots to ensure on-site safety and security. From performing site inspections and hazardous tasks to monitoring progress, drones are also equipped with AI algorithms to capture high-resolution images and videos of construction sites.
On the other hand, economist David Autor found that 60% of today’s workers are employed in occupations that didn’t exist in 1940. “This implies that more than 85% of employment growth over the last 80 years is explained by the technology-driven creation of new positions,” according to Goldman Sachs economists.
Mike Rowe, the host of “Dirty Jobs” and “How America Works,” previously told Entrepreneur that “for people who master a skill that’s in demand and watch their trajectory, you’re going to find they land at something that looks an awful lot like prosperity.”
Dr. Clayborne Carson To Receive National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award Along With Stacey Abrams, Kerry Kennedy
The National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, is honoring three outstanding civil and human rights leaders — Dr. Clayborne Carson, activist Stacey Abrams, and human rights leader Kerry Kennedy — during its 32nd Freedom Award ceremony.
The Freedom Award is an annual event hosted by the museum honoring those who have made significant contributions to civil rights and have laid the foundation for the next generation of civil rights leaders. Past Freedom Award winners include Michelle Obama, President Joe Biden, The Poor People’s Campaign, and singer John Legend.
The Freedom Award ceremony will take place Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre.
Carson is a Stanford University professor, and founder and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, which houses rare, digital educational resources by the civil rights leader.
The professor, who is one of the foremost experts on the life of activist and leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told BLACK ENTERPRISE he was honored to be receiving the award.
“It’s a good way for me to recognize the people who are aware of my work, and even though I’m in retirement it gave me something to look forward to,” said Clayborne. “It’s also wonderful to share this award with Stacey Abrams and Kerry Kennedy.”
Since 1985, Carson has directed the Martin Luther King Papers Project, a long-term project to edit and publish the papers of the civil rights activist. Additionally, Carson has published numerous books on the Civil Rights Movement and is the senior adviser to the landmark Eyes on the Prize documentary series.
He has also written several award-winning books, including In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s, which was published in 1981 and remains the definitive study of the courageous activists and organizers who challenged segregation.
When asked about the Civil Rights Movement and the fight for freedom that continues today, Carson said there are still significant strides to be made, adding that the scope of civil rights goes well beyond the United States.
“I think we do have a long way to go because I think the goal has to be, as Dr. King put it, to be global,” Carson told BE. “I think too many times we mistake civil rights for human rights. Giving us rights in one country doesn’t necessarily advance the cause of human rights because, as King pointed out, we’re in a world house now.”
To that end, Carson established The World House Project to collaborate with other human rights advocates to realize Dr. King’s vision of a global community in which all people can “learn somehow to live with each other in peace.” He also has contributed to more than two dozen subsequent documentaries on the Civil Rights Movement and related events.
The Stanford professor added that in his studies of Dr. King, one of the things that stood out to him was the life and accomplishments of King’s wife, Coretta Scott King.
“Coretta was very much involved in the broader human rights movement and was actually more politically experienced than he was,” said Carson. “She had been a member of a progressive party, and when she met Martin, one of the things that drew her to him was that she was two years older and more politically experienced in the effort to get human rights.”
Tickets for the Freedom Award ceremony can be purchased here. The preshow gala will begin at 5:30 p.m. at The Halloran Center.
Nationwide — Conversations centering on social class belong in any organization’s DEI initiatives, according to inclusion consultant Christopher “CJ” Gross.
“In terms of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility, if we believe that our primary challenges only pertain to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, generation, and religion — we’re missing a big piece of the puzzle,” he wrote in his new book, What’s Your Zip Code Story? Understanding and Overcoming Class Bias in the Workplace.
Within the past five years, diversity and inclusion, as well as unconscious bias, have been the main drivers of organizational training, politics, and community engagement. But diversity is much more than a buzzword; it propels innovation and problem solving, and leads to higher-performing teams. In his book, Gross takes a deep dive into why social class matters and where it fits in a company’s DEI efforts.
“The renewed focus on class, race, and equality in the workplace and beyond is making an indelible mark on society,” Gross said. “This clarion call for change is sweeping inequality from every corner of the nation, including law enforcement, schools, and businesses.”
What’s Your Zip Code Story? offers research-based solutions for employees seeking professional growth and for business leaders seeking new ways to engage their teams. Gross provides strategies to help class migrants — whether college students, recent graduates, or overlooked employees — climb the career lattice and transform themselves from undervalued employees into respected leaders. He also offers insights to help organizations understand the impact of diversity on a business’s productivity, turnover, and revenue.
What’s Your Zip Code Story is a powerful book that expands the conversation surrounding class bias, race, and equity in the workplace, and offers effective solutions.
“Each of us has our biases and cultural preferences, which makes it very hard for us to understand the perspectives of others,” Gross added. “It’s time we talked about it.”
He also serves as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Master Faculty for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Center for Innovation and Business Management, Adjunct Faculty for the Community College of Baltimore County.
Gross holds a B. A. degree in Organizational Management from Ashford University through the Forbes Entrepreneurship Scholarship and an M.A. degree in Strategic Leadership from St. Bonaventure University. He has been featured in the Washington Post, the Washington Informer Newspaper, and other print, radio, and television outlets.
About Your Book
What’s Your Zip Code Story? Understanding and Overcoming Class Bias in the Workplace
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Publication Date: May 20, 2022
ISBN-10: 1538160587
ISBN-13: 978-1538160589
Available on Amazon, BN.com, and other online booksellers
Reviews, photos, links to previous interviews, and Q&As are available upon request.
Rap Duo Mobb Deep Named In Copyright Infringement Lawsuit For Allegedly Stealing Band Logo
A new lawsuit reveals that Mobb Deep may be in deep trouble.
The rap duo have been named in a lawsuit from hardcore punk band Sick of It All for using their logo without their consent, Hypebeast reports. The copyright infringement lawsuit, which also names the clothing line Supreme and the estate of the late Mobb Deep member Prodigy, was filed by Bush Baby Zamagate, Inc., the owner of all of Sick of It All’s intellectual property rights, on Oct. 11.
Court documents claim that the band’s “Alleyway Crew” logo, featuring a curvy, fire-breathing dragon, was used by the Queens, New York legendary rap group several times around 1997.
On Instagram, fans seemed to be leaning in different directions on the differences between images. “Interesting,” one user wrote.
“The logo is changed drastically not sure how this will go. It’s similar for sure but different.”
For its trouble, Bush Baby Zamagate, Inc. is seeking compensatory damages and requesting that the defendants be banned from “using the Infringing Mark or any other mark or marks confusingly similar thereto, alone or in combination with other words, names, styles, titles, designs or marks in connection with the provision of any goods and services.”
Walking Dead: Missouri Woman Still Proving She’s Alive Decades After Government Declared Her Deceased
One St. Louis woman has been trying to reclaim her life ever since she was given the social security number of a deceased person 16 years ago.
In 2007, Madeline-Michelle Carthen, now 52, discovered she had been placed on the Death Master File while trying to apply for financial aid as a student at Webster University. She has been haunted by the error despite having been issued a new number from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and changing her name.
According to The Independent, the old number she was given has kept her from graduating college and qualifying for a mortgage.
Carthen called the mistake “a haunting” and said things didn’t get better when she first found out that she was on the list that tracks those who are deceased with social security numbers.
“Well, it got worse because it wasn’t creditors. Being in the Death Master File, it went to the IRS, it went to the Department of Homeland Security, it went to E-verify, all of these things. It just started affecting my life. It’s just a matter before my Social Security number catches up with me, and then they have to let me go … HR can’t process payroll,” she said of the challenges she has faced in keeping a job due to the error.
In 2021, Carthen filed a lawsuit against the SSA that was dismissed after she’d previously tried reaching out to four total U.S. presidents for help. After being assigned a new number that same year and legally changing her name, the woman said she’s still suffering. “Here I am still stuck, and nobody can help,” Carthen shared to The Independent.
An SSA spokesperson told KSDK in an email that its records are “highly accurate.” The administration’s website provides a guide on what to do for people who find themselves in the same situation as Carthen.
D.C. Intersection To Be Renamed After Negro League’s First Female Pitcher
Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, the first woman to pitch in the Negro Leagues and a two-way player, will be memorialized by having a D.C. intersection named after her.
On Oct. 11, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser revealed that the “Dave Thomas Circle” intersection will be renamed “Mamie ‘Peanut’ Johnson Plaza,” after the female baseball pitcher who played for the Indianapolis Clowns for three years, according to Fox 5. The $41 million construction project for the intersection near Florida Avenue and New York Avenue NE will end in 2024. The D.C. City Council still needs to approve the renaming.
Mayor Bowser said about the project, “Our community is ready to start a new chapter at this intersection, and we are off to a strong start by naming it after such an iconic woman.”
She continued: “Mamie ‘Peanut’ Johnson was a pioneer. Now, it is fitting that her name will represent these new spaces where residents and visitors can rest and play. I thank the Noma BID for engaging the public and going through a thoughtful process of renaming this intersection.”
Between April 17 and June 25 of this year, D.C. residents voted for name recommendations for the intersection, and more than 4,300 chose to rename the intersection in honor of Johnson.
The area was notorious for being a problem spot for traffic. Maura Brophy, president and CEO of the NoMa BID, said about construction, “The redesign of the Florida Avenue/New York Avenue NE intersection will transform the current space to make it safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers while also creating more than one acre of green space for the benefit of the community.”
Who was Mamie Johnson?
The trailblazing athlete pitcher played for the Indianapolis Clowns from 1953-1955. She entered the Negro Leagues as Black players began to integrate into the MLB. Ironically, Johnson had been rejected by the all-white female league because she was Black. Although she was the only woman to pitch in the Negro Leagues, there were two other women who also played baseball with the men.
Johnson proudly stated that she learned how to throw her famous curveball from the baseball legend Satchel Paige.
“Tell you the truth, I didn’t know of his greatness that much. He was just another ballplayer to me at that particular time. Later on, I found out exactly who he was,” she explained.
After 1955, Johnson hung up her mitt and became a nurse. She died from an undisclosed illness in 2017.
Antonio Brown Arrested For Allegedly Not Paying Nearly $31K In Child Support
On Oct. 15, former National Football League (NFL) player Antonio Brown was arrested in Dania Beach, Florida, for allegedly failing to pay child support.
According to CBS News, the 35-year-old father of six by three different women was booked in Broward County. Brown was booked on an out-of-county arrest warrant. He was released on a $15,000 bond.
Wiltrice Jackson, the former athlete’s ex-girlfriend, Jackson claims she has consistently tried to get Brown to support Antanyiah, and that Brown’s debt totals nearly $31,000 in child support owed for their daughter, Antanyiah. The mother of the 15-year-old track star, who already has interest from more than 80 colleges, said she wanted Brown arrested.
“Right now, he’s making a mockery out of the judge, out of everything, because he feels like he’s untouchable,” she said.
This latest incident was not the first time the exasperated mom turned to the courts. BLACK ENTERPRISE previously reported that an arrest warrant was issued for Brown in August 2023. At the time, a Miami-Dade County judge ruled that the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver missed a child support payment of $15,000. CBS News also reported the same issue came about earlier this year, in April.
Brown is not currently signed to an NFL team. Last month, BEreported that Brown was accused of pulling a gun on members of his Albany Empire (formerly of the National Arena League) team. Former players in the now-defunct team also claimed the athlete didn’t pay them.
National Museum Of African American History And Culture Acquires Major Collection Of Work Attributed To Poet Phillis Wheatley Peters
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has acquired the largest private collection of items to bring new context and perspective to the life and literary impact of poet Phillis Wheatley Peters (c.1753–1784), including one of the few manuscripts written in the poet’s hand.
Born in West Africa and captured by slave traders as a child, Wheatley Peters became the first African American to publish a book of poetry with the 1773 release of her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in London. A rare and exciting highlight of this acquisition is a four-page manuscript of a poem, “Ocean,” written in ink by Wheatley Peters’ hand, the only copy that exists today, and unpublished before 1998. The poem was likely composed on her return voyage to America from England in September 1773.
Six of the 30 objects in this collection were published during her life span. Selected items from the collection can be viewed online through the Searchable Museum website. Plans to display these new acquisitions are in the works. The museum currently recognizes Wheatley Peters in the Paradox of Liberty display in the “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition with a statue and a copy of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.
“Phillis Wheatley Peters’s poetry brought her renown in abolitionist circles and presented as proof of the humanity of those of African descent and the inhumanity of slavery,” said Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Scholars continue to parse through her work to determine when and where she posed resistance to slavery; her poem ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ is considered to be a chastisement of slavery to the millions of white Americans undergoing the religious revival movement known as ‘The Great Awakening.’ This must have pricked Thomas Jefferson’s conscience, for his 1785 publication of Notes on the State of Virginia dismissed Wheatley Peters’s talent as coming from religion and religious training rather than intellect.”
Additional highlights of the collection include:
An autographed manuscript of the 70-line dramatic poem “Ocean” by Wheatley, ca. September 1773, four pages.
An issue of The Arminian Magazine, August 1789, features the 20-line poem “On the Death of a Child, Five Years of Age” and attributes it to “Phillis Wheatly, a negro.”
A hardcover edition of Pearls From the American Female Poets by Caroline May, 1869. The entry for Wheatley Peters spans pages 39 to 41 and includes a biographical note and two poems: “On the Death of a Young Gentleman of Great Promise” and “Sleep.”
A hardcover edition of The Poems of Phillis Wheatley, 1909. The red cloth cover features Wheatley Peters in profile and holding a quill to paper in her right hand.
A hardcover edition of Phillis Wheatley (Phillis Peters): A Critical Attempt and a Bibliography of Her Writings by Charles Frederick Heartman, 1915. Translated into English from the original German.
A booklet published by the Phillis Wheatley Club of Waycross, Georgia, in 1930. It contains a biography of the poet and correspondence between Wheatley Peters and George Washington, including a poem she sent him, “His Excellency General Washington.”
The publication of her poems by the AME Church and a biography by the Phillis Wheatley Club in the early 20th century are the only works in the collection published by Black printers. The biography published by the Phillis Wheatley Club takes on a higher level of importance because it documents the educational work of Black clubwomen and the role Black women played as historians of Black life and culture.
“This collection, ranging from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, provides a glimpse of Phillis Wheatley Peters, the poet and Wheatley Peters, the icon, as well as Wheatley Peters, the woman,” said Angela Tate, curator of women’s history at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “This part of Wheatley Peters’s life has been long removed from popular culture and remembrance. A 1783 poem in this collection is of extreme interest because it is published under her married name of Phillis Peters, and furthermore, it is important to note that she is not presented as Mrs. John Peters.”
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Netflix’s (NFLX.O) crackdown on password-sharing likely boosted subscribers by about 6 million in the third quarter and the streaming pioneer is expected to set the stage for price increases when it reports earnings on Wednesday.
The only profitable major streamer, Netflix has resisted joining rivals like Walt Disney (DIS.N) in hiking ad-free prices this year and instead curbed password-sharing outside households to tap the more than 100 million viewers who use its service without subscribing.
“Netflix now closely resembles a utility in many markets,” analysts at Bernstein said. “The challenge of being labeled a utility is how a maturing company continues finding growth.”
It could hike prices after the end of the Hollywood actors strike, a media report said earlier in October.
Five months after calling a strike that plunged Hollywood into turmoil, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) last week approved a new contract with major studios.
Courtesy Of Reuters
After a slow start for the ad plan launched last year, analysts said they expect Netflix will raise prices of its ad-free options in the coming months to nudge more subscribers to the other tier, where commercials help bring in more revenue per user.
So far, most viewers subscribing to Netflix after the password crackdown have opted for the ad-free plans, analysts said. Its standard plan with ads costs $6.99 a month, while the ad-free plans start at $15.49.
“Using these tactics, Netflix will likely double its ad-supported viewership next year,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Ross Benes. He expects Netflix to show more ads to users over time, catching up with rivals.
The ad tier is expected to bring in some $188.1 million in revenue in the third quarter ended September, with subscriber additions of 2.8 million, according to Visible Alpha estimates.
Reuters Graphics
Overall, Wall Street expects the streamer to post its strongest quarterly subscriber additions this year, according to LSEG data.
Revenue in the third quarter likely rose 7.7% to $8.54 billion, the fastest growth in five quarters, thanks to strong programming that included the latest seasons of “Sex Education” and “Virgin River.”
