We were recently asked to write a guest blog for the Centre for Business Innovation (disclaimer: we run their Corporate Venturing Consortium) focussing on what impact recent trends in #AI and #Robotics might have for agriculture and traditionally low-skilled industries in the UK post leaving the EU.
Researching for the post just reminded me of how far robotics has come in recent years. It is amazing to think that roles, such as fruit picking, which were a distant dream a couple of years ago are now almost mainstream.
The key conclusion we drew from our research was that any direct or indirect restriction on low-skilled immigration was more likely to lead to an increase in the use of technology than an increase in wages for local workers. Moreover, this will lead to lower consumer spending in the local area, potentially impacting on the sustainability of supporting service organisations.
The blog can be found here