In the United Kingdom, a public sector reform report was produced where a replacement of 250,000 civil servants is projected. Robots will be placed in their seats. It is called “Work in Progress” and it is a report produced by the independent body Reform. This British think-tank estimates that robots over the next 15 years can replace about 250,000 civil servants. The justification for this transformation in services is based on considerable savings as well as the qualitative increase of the service offered to citizens. As a price to pay for this transformation, the report points out the price of the impact on employment. According to Reform, efficiency in public services can be substantially improved by using web services, by increasing artificial intelligence (such as chatbots, which communicate with customers). This transformation will bring value added regarding efficiency and bring savings of billions of pounds. The price to pay is quite clear; the company estimates that the use of these technologies will mean that the state machine can dispense 132 thousand central service workers by 2030 – close to 90% of the total – and result in savings of 2.6 billion Pounds per year. Also in health, the company estimates that more than 110 thousand administrative jobs can be dispensed saving about 1,700 million pounds.
The report gives an example of operational dynamics, saying that almost a third of nurses’ roles can be adapted and performed by computer applications. Computer platforms could thus collect information as well as deliver medication. There are 90 pages where a round of state services are done, tasks and actions performed by public officials are summed up, and the findings are based on interviews with 17 experts from areas such as health, universities, government and industry. The world of robotics connects computing platforms to action in the field, allowing to close a circle of work that may have profound implications for employment.
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