Deep and disruptive impacts are coming to the employment market as new technologies perform human tasks, and government will need to implement measures to prepare younger generations to cope with what is rapidly approaching, experts said.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already making headway in performing tasks once considered out of their reach and solely in the realm of robots in science fiction. Thus, there’s a need for the government to reinvent the labour market to ensure future jobs, said Nuthasid Rukkiatwong, a researcher from Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI).

He was speaking at a recent seminar titled “Thailand Moves Forward with AI Technology” at the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre’s (Nectec) annual conference and exhibition.

According to Nuthasid’s research on AI, there are now 8.2 million Thais working in high-risk occupations, or jobs where the estimated likelihood of them being replaced by AI is over 70 per cent.

The research found that more than half of workers at high risk of losing their jobs from technological disruption have both low education and low income.

They include retail salespeople, clerks, drivers, machine operators and manufacturing assembly workers.

Some professionals, including lawyers, underwriters and radiologists, are also at risk of losing their jobs from technological disruption, he said.

The researcher said that while in some cases it might make sense for the government to take direct action in reskilling its workforce, such as providing training courses, the modern economy is too complicated for such an initiative to be feasible on a large scale.

He suggested instead that reskilling be accelerated by promoting the competitive training market.

“Such a measure includes, but is not limited to, grants and subsidies for private training providers, a training cost subsidy for workers, and a comprehensive information system for training courses,” Nuthasid said.

These measures have been implemented abroad and the regime would be wise to imitate them, he added.

“Any failure to do so would diminish the competitiveness of our nation, thereby reducing growth and prosperity, while at the same time threatening social cohesion by dividing people into those who can take advantage of AI and automation technologies, and those who can’t,” he added.

Coming revolution

AI has played a major role in market and would absolutely revolutionise Thailand, the seminar agreed in consensus.

One of the figures supporting that contention was found in research from KPMG, a professional service company. They found venture capital investment into AI and machine learning (ML) had doubled to $12 billion (Bt388 billion) in 2017 from $6 billion in 2016, said Panachit Kittipanya-ngam, president of Thailand Tech Start-up Association.

He also cited a forecast from Tractica, a market intelligence firm, that annual worldwide AI revenue would grow from $643.7 million in 2016 to $36.8 billion by 2025.

“AI will absolutely revolutionise Thailand and the shape of employment will change. So, if we fail to develop human resources we may lose the opportunity to foreign workforces,” he emphasised.

The seminar speakers sought answers for how the Kingdom could adapt itself to stay above the wave of disruption, along with defining the characteristics, skill sets and attitudes young Thais will need to cope with the trend.

Thanaruk Theeramunkong, president of Artificial Intelligence Association of Thailand, said he believes AI will overtake humans in 50 to 60 years and so educational authorities should design textbook to teach children about the technology.

Future learning process should also transform the roles of teachers and students, he advised.

“Due to the [technology] disruption, students may not need to learn from teachers. The latter will change their role from teaching to guiding,” said Thanaruk, who is also a lecturer at Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology at Thammasat University.

Chai Wutiwiwatchai, director of Human Computer Communication Research Unit, Nectec, argued for the country making big changes to enable adaptation to the coming age of AI.

“The next generation of Thais should be socialised as people who can think, are hands on and rely on themselves,” he said. In the past, they could be advanced thinkers but were unable to implement their ideas due to a lack of hands-on skills, the director added.

Surawut Pornthabthong, a solutions architect at Thailand Amazon Web Services, built on Chai’s suggestion. “We should try to differentiate the next generation, create them to each have their individual value, and to be unique, so they don’t have to compete in the same market,” he said.

“That could be their way to survive.”

Xiaomi said in a press statement that the new smartphone’s specifications make it the ideal device for intrepid travelers looking to achieve the perfect selfie.

John Chen, Regional Director, Xiaomi Technology (Southeast Asia), said: “Following on from the success of the previous edition, the new, upgraded Redmi Note 6 Pro is unrivalled for professional-level and creative selfies. Its ultimate selfie setup, coupled with its AI features and a super-long battery life, make the Redmi Note 6 Pro the go-to affordable choice for all avid selfie photographers, whatever their gender, their age, wherever they are, and whatever they do.”

Redmi Note 6 Pro will come in black, blue and rose gold, 4GB+64GB for Bt6,990. The new phone will hit shelves at 2 p.m. on Lazada and at 12:30 p.m. at Thailand Mobile Expo on Sep 2018.

The phone’s front dual camera captures more light using a 20MP primary sensor with 1.8μm Super Pixel technology that combines the information of four pixels into one. Redmi Note 6 Pro also sports a 12MP + 5MP rear dual camera with updated AI functions such as scene detection, portrait mode, and dynamic bokeh that let users add swirls and shapes to bokeh lights. The 12MP primary sensor on the back also has Dual Pixel autofocus – a technology commonly seen in professional DSLR cameras, which results in a much faster auto-focus speed, so you are much more likely to capture a moment in sharp focus.

Redmi Note 6 Pro’s full screen display delivers stunning visuals whether you’re watching videos or playing games. It measures 6.26 inches diagonally with a FHD+ resolution of 2280 x 1080 pixels, the 500-nit maximum brightness and 1500:1 contrast ratio. The LCD screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass with 2.5D curved corners for added peace of mind.

Redmi Note 6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm SnapdragonTM 636 SoC that is built using a 14nm process. Users will experience fast performance whether they are editing a large spreadsheet or playing performance-intensive games, thanks to the SoC’s Qualcomm® KryoTM 260 cores, 1.8GHz maximum clock speed, and the Qualcomm® AdrenoTM 509 GPU.

Redmi Note 6 Pro sports a large 4000mAh battery that provides more than a day of use on a single charge. Together with MIUI’s battery optimization capabilities, you don’t have to worry about charging your phone in the middle of the day for a selfie session.

Redmi Note 6 Pro also offers 3.5mm audio connector, IR blaster and AI face unlock for great user experience.

Nghia Hoang Pho, 68, a 10-year veteran of the NSA’s elite Tailored Access Operations hacking unit, pleaded guilty in December to one count of willful retention of classified national defense information.

Authorities discovered that between 2010 and 2015, he had taken home with him substantial TAO materials, including programs and data, that eventually ended up in the hands of Russian intelligence.

Vietnam-born Pho put the information on his home computer, which was protected by the popular Kaspersky anti-virus program.

US authorities believe that Russian intelligence was able to access his computer through Kaspersky.

In order to function, the Kaspersky program needs a computer owner’s blanket permission to access the machine’s systems.

It then communicates the results of its anti-virus scans to Kaspersky headquarters — in Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the 2015 penetration of Pho’s computer led to the Russians obtaining information on how the NSA itself infiltrates foreign computer networks and protects itself from cyberattacks.

Kaspersky itself later confirmed that its software in 2014 automatically detected and downloaded suspicious files on Pho’s computer that appeared to contain data and source code for so-called Equation Group hacking software from the NSA.

After being examined by Kaspersky analysts, the files were deleted, the company says. Kaspersky denies that Russian intelligence obtained the files from it.

The leak was one of the most devastating ever for the NSA, one of the US government’s most important spy agencies, and significantly set back its operations against foreign targets’ computers.

“As a result of his actions, Pho compromised some of our country’s most closely held types of intelligence, and forced NSA to abandon important initiatives to protect itself and its operational capabilities, at great economic and operational cost,” said US Attorney Robert Hur.

The incident was a key reason for the US government’s ban on using Kaspersky anti-virus software on government computers, warning that the company has suspect links to Russian intelligence.

Kaspersky denies any ties to the Russian government or its spies.

The databases have been developed by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in conjunction with its European and international partners.

At a meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, the directors-general and other senior officials from the Southeast Asian IP offices held discussions on how to further extend state of the art tools and databases to more Asean member states’ IP offices during a forum with EUIPO Representatives, organised in the framework of the EU-funded IP Key Southeast Asia programme.

TMview currently contains over 51 million trade marks from 67 IP offices around the world, while Designview contains approximately 14 million designs from 67 participating offices. Both multilingual databases are free to use, accessible online and available 24/7. They allow users to search for trade marks and designs in each and every one of the registers of the participating offices.

The Director General of the Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP) of Indonesia, Freddy Harris, commented, “The addition of the Indonesian data further consolidates the usefulness of the TMview and Designview databases, making them the go-to resource for rights holders and IP practitioners.”

It has been exactly 20 years since Google arrived in the cyberspace to rule the world wide web. To celebrate its milestone 20th birthday on Thursday, September 27, Google posted a nostalgic video as its trademark doodle on the home page of the search engine.

The video features interesting searches through the years covering holidays, events, achievements, people, food, planets and languages.

Google came into being in 1998 to answer queries of the entire world. Started as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, both Ph.D. students at the Stanford University, US, the search engine became the go-to place for all sorts of general information in no time.

Google was able to bring information scattered across the world under its umbrella and make it accessible to all. It now offers searches in more than 150 languages in over 190 countries.

From a simple search engine, Google has become a tech giant making itself indispensable in people’s lives across the world.

Thursday’s Google Doodle is a video that walks down the memory lane exploring popular searches across the world in the last two decades. From ‘what will happen on Y2K’ to ‘How to tie a tie’ to ‘how do you pronounce gif’  — the video features many interesting questions Google has answered in the last two decades.

“Although more than 2,000 Doodles have adorned its homepage, Google has kept its site looking fresh by creating different variations of its logo, inspired by cultural icons, events and phenomena such as Pac-Man, the birth of hip-hop and more,” Google said in a statement.

In a blog post, Ben Gomes, VP, Search, News and Assistant, at Google said while almost everything had changed about “technology and the information available to us, the core principles of Search have stayed the same”.

Gomes sought to share a first look at the next chapter of Search, which he said would be driven by “three fundamental shifts”. These are:

The shift from answers to journeys: This will help users resume tasks “where you left off”. “We’re bringing new features to Search that help you with ongoing information needs,” Gomes said.

The shift from queries to providing a query-less way to get to information: Google will surface relevant information related to a users’ interests, even when they don’t have a specific query in mind.

The shift from text to a more visual way of finding information: Google plans to bring more visual content to Search and “completely redesign Google Images” to make finding information easier.

Created following extensive research on more than 750 avid gamers from around the world, Lenovo has honed the design of the Legion Y25f-10 Gaming Monitor in line with its findings.

The monitor’s display provides 24.5-inch near-edgeless viewable image size with TUV certified Eye Comfort, it reduces eye fatigue, tiredness neck and shoulder pain to offer longer and more comfortable gaming experience. Its AMD FreeSync Technology with fast 144 Hz refresh rate eliminates screen tearing, and its incredible 1ms response time minimizes display stutter and input lag – perfect for gamers.

Fusing clean, sleek styling with advanced specifications to enhance the gaming experience, the Legion Y25f-10 Gaming Monitor offers an immersive experience for gamers.

Legion’s reputation amongst gaming in two years since its launch has gained a strong base of followers, becoming a staple in gaming rigs worldwide and Asia Pacific – cementing itself as the top gaming laptop brand in Malaysia and #1 premium gaming laptop brand in Thailand.

“The gaming community is growing rapidly in Thailand, and those gamers are looking for an immersive, authentic experience. Lenovo’s Legion line was created after close collaboration with gamers. This extensive research has resulted in the Legion Y25f-10 Gaming Monitor with a near edgeless display, designed with both comfort and style in mind,” said Thanet Angkasirisan, General Manager, Lenovo Indochina.

Pricing for Lenovo Legion Y25f-10 Gaming Monitor starts at Bt7,990 and now available at leading Lenovo partner stores Advice , Blue Shop, IT CITY, BananaStore, J.I.B., Speed Compute worldwide together with other Lenovo products.

Systrom and Krieger have resigned from their posts as chief executive and chief technology officer respectively, not giving reasons and saying they planned to take time off, according to the Times.

Facebook did not respond to a request for comment.

Instagram in June announced it passed a billion active users, and unveiled a new long-form video feature in a bid to attract “creators” like those on YouTube.

It became the fourth Facebook platform to eclipse the billion-user mark, including the namesake social network with more than two billion users, and the messaging applications WhatsApp and Messenger.

Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012 for a combination of cash and stock worth some $1 billion at the time.

Instagram has been a hit with young internet users, an audience that Facebook is keen to keep in its fold.

The departures come as Facebook grapples with the worst crisis in its history, vilified for not more zealously guarding information users share at the leading online social network.

Many see Facebook as being the main vehicle for spreading false information in recent years, and of being used by nefarious interests out to sway the results of the elections such as the one that put President Donald Trump in the White House.

The Cambridge Analytica public relations disaster, in which Facebook admitted that up to 87 million users may have had their data hijacked by the British consultancy firm, came on top of widespread criticism of the social network’s propensity to spread and accentuate large amounts of completely false information.

Facebook is facing multiple inquiries from US and British regulators about the Cambridge Analytica user data scandal, and its boss Mark Zuckerberg was grilled by the European Parliament and the US Congress earlier this year.

WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum earlier this year left Facebook, which bought the smartphone messaging service for $19 billion.

Koum said in a post on his Facebook page that he was taking time off to pursue interests such as collecting air-cooled Porsches, working on cars and playing ultimate Frisbee.

US media reports indicated that a disagreement with Facebook over the privacy of user data may have also been a factor in Koum’s decision to quit his position as a high-ranking executive and likely leave his seat on the board at the leading online social network.

Considered by many as revolutionary as the internet, a blockchain is a database that is shared across a network of hundreds of computers. Once a record has been added to the chain it is very difficult to tamper with. And to ensure all copies of the database are the same, the network makes constant checks.

Blockchains have been used most prominently as the tool behind cryptocurrency Bitcoin, but many other possible uses from medical records to banking — and now sports — are emerging.

“Blockchain has the power to be the underlying infrastructure upon which sport functions,” Michael Broughton of Sports Investment Partners told AFP as the two-day World Football Summit got underway in Madrid.

“Much as mobile phones and apps are today a broader expression of the underlying internet so sport can build upon blockchain.”

After French champions Paris Saint-Germain announced earlier this month that they were launching their own cryptocurrency in partnership with Socios.com, a blockchain company based in Malta, Italian giants Juventus announced Monday they would do the same.

Fans of the two clubs will be able to buy club-branded tokens that come with voting rights as well as access to exclusive content and rewards.

– ‘Limitles potential’ –

English side Arsenal announced in January they had reached an agreement with California-based Cashbet to launch their own cryptocurrency which would be used to bet on matches.

The technology could also have significant implications for ticket sales.

European football governing body UEFA used blockchain technology to sell all of the tickets for the Super Cup final in Tallinn in August between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid over mobile phones, preventing the duplication of tickets.

In a sign of the growing interest of the football world in blockchain, Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi in December became a brand ambassador for Israeli start-up Sirin Labs which has developed an ultra-secure mobile phone that uses the technology.

Former Liverpool and England striker Michael Owen earlier this year invested in Hong Kong-based Global Crypto Offering Exchange (GCOX), a global platform that allows celebrities to create and list their own “tokens”.

“I believe blockchain technology holds the future. It has limitless potential that we have yet to fully explore,” Owen said at the time.

‘Bring transparency’

The technology is even starting — albeit on a very small scale — to be used to pay players, which some believe could help stamp out corruption in football.

Gibraltar United announced in July that it would become the world’s first football club to pay its players in cryptocurrency while tiny Turkish club Harunustaspor made global headlines at the start of the year by announcing it had carried out the world’s first football transfer of a player in bitcoins.

“It could bring transparency to world of football,” said Pablo Dana of Heritage Sports Holding which owns Gibraltar United and in August bought 25 percent of Italian third division side Rimini using a digital currency.

Broughton agreed, saying “having a player’s identify and registration on the blockchain could provide greater transparency to the transfer and ownership systems”.

The technology could also be used together with big data analytics, to identify future football stars, according to Olivier Jarosz, head of club affairs at the Switzerland-based European Club Association.

“You can through the data base try to find out the biggest potentials without sending 200 scouts,” he said.

But Sam Jones of the London Football Exchange warned that “you can’t insure yourself” against some of the new cryptpocurrencies that use blockchain.

“You relying on hope and hope is the key ingredient of a bubble,” he said.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are core drivers of how Google will pursue its 20-year-old mission to organize the world’s information and make it accessible to anyone, search vice president Ben Gomes said at an event in San Francisco.

The search engine focused strongly on mobile use and appeared to be growing more like Facebook, encouraging users to linger and explore topics, interests or stories with increasingly emphasis on photos and videos. Results will be increasingly personalized.

“Search is not perfect, and we are under no illusions it is,” Gomes said.

“But, you have our commitment that we will make it better every day.”

He described the latest changes as shifting from answers to journeys, providing ways to target queries without knowing what words to use and enhancing image-based searches.

Searching with pictures

Google Images was redesigned to weave in “Lens” technology that enables queries based on what is pointed out in pictures.

The Images overhaul includes carousels of online video clip highlights displayed with mobile search query results.

New Activity Cards will let users pick up searches where they left off, eliminating the need to retrace online steps.

The search engine will also let users create Collections of online content, and suggest related material that might be of interest.

A Google feed used by more than 800 million people monthly is getting a new name, Discover, and increased ability to offer people relevant information they are likely to want but haven’t thought to ask for yet.

The feature was described as “Google search helping you discover new things without a query.”

Google said it is also testing out an improvement to its job-related search results that will figure out what skills are needed for such posts and information about how to acquire them.

“Information and language are core to what we are as human beings,” Gomes said.

“Our work here is never done.”

China is beefing up efforts to boost the development of the industrial internet, which serves as a key growth engine for its digital economy, according to the country’s top industrial development regulator.

More efforts are needed to make breakthroughs in key technologies－such as chips and smart sensors－participate in international standard-setting activities, apply new industrial internet technologies and products to key industries, and accelerate development of the internet of vehicles and the internet of things, according to Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology.

The industrial internet, a new type of manufacturing automation that combines advanced machines, internet-connected sensors and big data analysis, is expected to boost productivity and reduce costs in industrial production.

“We will make a big push to develop the industrial internet in three aspects,” Miao said. “First, we will promote the construction of a high-speed broadband network, including 5G connections. Second, we need to build internet application platforms for large firms and public service platforms for small and medium-sized companies. Third, we must attach great importance to the safety of industrial data.”

Miao made the remarks on Saturday at the 2018 World Internet of Things Expo in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. The expo opened on Saturday and continues through Tuesday.

“Embracing the industrial internet will bring new opportunities for economic and social development, as it helps give impetus to industrial transformation and upgrading, and promote energy saving and emission reduction as well as streamlined management,” Miao said.

Liu Yunjie, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, cited a McKinsey Global Institute report, saying new approaches to boosting productivity could generate $5.6 trillion in additional Chinese GDP by 2030.

“The industrial internet will help enhance labor production and reduce costs,” Liu said. “We need to seize the new opportunity, driving forward companies’ automated and intelligent transformation and connecting industrial and manufacturing sectors in their entirety.”

Sun Pishu, chairman of the Chinese server maker Inspur Group, agreed, saying the industrial internet was key to the integration of the internet, cloud computing, big data, AI and the real economy.

Inspur Group said on Sunday that it had set up more than 10 million processors in the country’s granaries, which will provide real-time information such as the temperature and humidity. Through the industrial internet system, it now takes three days to gather the latest statistics of granaries nationwide, compared to 15 days previously.