Today’s big topic: A highly educated professional group is particularly at risk of losing its job
What’s happening?
Artificial intelligence is well on its way to putting an awful lot of us out of work, and it’s only going to get worse.
That is a widespread fear these days, when hardly a day goes by without news about the new technology’s capabilities and spread. Two out of three Danes wholly or partly agree that artificial intelligence will lead to job losses, a recent survey by Verian for Berlingske found.
Perhaps that’s not so surprising, given the notices of redundancy now pouring out from both companies and politicians.
Among the most eye-catching: the major bank Nordea will eliminate 1,500 positions this year and next as a result of introducing artificial intelligence. The government expects that »a massive push for artificial intelligence« will make at least 30,000 full-time jobs redundant in the public sector. That is on page 44 of the government platform.
And the really big scare is that one-fifth of the entire Danish workforce is at risk of being replaced by the new technology. That was the assessment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a report last year.
Why it matters!
Fear of new machines is nothing new.
First came the steam engine, then the assembly line, followed by the industrial robot and the computer. Each time, the worry was the same: that technology would make people redundant, that machines would take our jobs. And each time, it turned out that, in the end, there was still plenty of work for humans after the new technology arrived.
But today, the scale of what machines can change could prove enormous and far greater than in previous technological revolutions, in part because this time it is not manual work and the tasks of the least skilled that machines take over first. Instead, it is highly educated people in knowledge professions who face the greatest risk of losing their jobs to the new technology.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– 14 people suspected in case involving laundering of 100 million DKK
Thirteen Chinese nationals and one Dane were arrested and charged on Wednesday in a case involving laundering of more than 100 million DKK in total, as well as VAT fraud amounting to 24 million DKK.
This was announced by the National Special Crime Unit (NSK) in a press release, according to Ritzau. The laundering is believed to have taken place partly through trading in high-end designer handbags, and two of the suspects are employees at a luxury goods store in Copenhagen.
Eleven of those arrested will appear in a preliminary court hearing at the City Court of Copenhagen at 9 a.m. today.
– Heavy rain this weekend
From Friday morning until Saturday morning, heavy rain is expected, possibly accompanied by thunder.
This is stated by the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) in a weather alert on its website in the early hours of Wednesday, according to Ritzau.
The alert is in effect from 8 a.m. Friday for 24 hours, during which 30 to 50 millimetres of rain may fall. Over a six‑hour period, more than 24 millimetres may fall. According to DMI, it is still uncertain which parts of the country will see the heaviest rainfall.
– Beaver spotted in Funen waters for the first time in 2,500 years
On Saturday, a beaver was spotted in Odense Fjord on Funen, swimming around with its young.
This is reported by the local newspaper Kjerteminde Avis on the basis of an interview with Heiko Buch-Illing, director of Fjord&Bælt in Kerteminde. He received a video from a woman who was out swimming in Odense Fjord.
»She saw a mother beaver with her young«, he tells the newspaper, according to Ritzau.
It is the first time a beaver has been seen on Funen since the animal disappeared around 2,500 years ago, says Thomas Bjørneboe Berg, a senior researcher at Naturama, to Ritzau. There are already beavers in Jutland and on Zealand, and they are protected in both Denmark and the EU.
Talk of town: The large courtyard in Nyhavn is turning into something like a nightclub for the weekend
Late summer reaches its peak this week for art-minded Copenhageners.
Looking for a fun place to party on Friday night? Or maybe you are an art enthusiast with a soft spot for jazz or dj’ing? Either way, you can experience it all this weekend in the colorful city centre by Nyhavn in Copenhagen.
For Scandinavia’s largest international art fair, Enter Art Fair, at Lokomotivværkstedet by Sydhavnen, August 27-30, you can buy a ticket for 156 DKK. During the same days, you can also buy a ticket (from 130 DKK) to see art from Nordic galleries at the Chart art fair at Kunsthal Charlottenborg by Nyhavn – a fair that also offers some pretty great free events, parties, and concerts.
On Friday, August 28, you can catch a concert with the Copenhagener Yangze and the dream-pop musician Koilwood from Las Vegas. That same evening, the gallery’s large courtyard is transformed into something like a nightclub, with DJ sets from, among others, Téa, Harrison Heat, and Kasper Bjørke. The next night, Saturday, August 29, the music comes from, among others, Vinnie Who, the party collective Unearth, and the Copenhagen-Berlin DJ Tania Just. And yes, it’s free.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.