Robots

A new study of factories in Wisconsin and elsewhere raises fresh questions about whether increasing automation is actually putting laborers out of work. Manufacturers that use many robots tend to have more employees than facilities without robotics, according to researchers at New York University, Stanford University and the U.S. Census Bureau. “Factories that adopt robots…

At home, Vi Michels has a circuit board that can light up and make noise. Sometimes she’ll use software to program an elf that delivers packages across her computer screen. But the 10-year-old fifth grader had no experience coding robots. That’s until she went to STEM Day, an annual event hosted by Girl Scouts Wisconsin…

Earlier this month, clients and employees at Aspiro in Green Bay donned their green and gold in honor of special visitors. The nonprofit, which provides day services and employment training for adults with disabilities, welcomed two recent additions to the Green Bay Packers — the team’s new “player appearance robots.” They were manned by backup…

In the month of November, Americans received 5 billion robocalls, or about 2,000 calls per second. Sometimes, these scammers claim you can lower your utility bills or credit card rates. Some scare you into thinking there’s a problem with your accounts. Others offer ways to get money fast. Tiffany Bernhardt Schultz, southwest Wisconsin regional director…

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says state economic development officials are continuing to make changes to a $3 billion contract with display screen manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group to get the best possible deal for taxpayers. Vos commented on the Foxconn deal Tuesday, a day after the contract was distributed to members of the Wisconsin Economic…

Several dozen Foxconn employees have temporarily moved into the SC Johnson iMET Technology Center located less than a mile from where the Taiwanese company is expected to build a huge display screen manufacturing plant. Gateway Technical College owns and operates the center that serves as a teaching facility. The Foxconn employees are made up of…

Gov. Scott Walker wants state lawmakers to approve more than just $3 billion in tax breaks for tech giant Foxconn, unveiling a special session bill Friday that would roll back environmental protections and borrow hundreds of millions to expand a southeast Wisconsin interstate. The exemptions to environmental laws would be sweeping for the company, letting…

Gov. Scott Walker told reporters Friday that critics of the deal between Wisconsin and Foxconn “can go suck lemons.” In a stop in Eau Claire, Walker didn’t mince words when he was asked by the media about environmental impacts or the $3 billion in incentives he promised Foxconn: “But I will tell you the pattern…

Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn CEO Terry Gou watched the white wings of Milwaukee’s art museum open over them to mark their agreement to have the electronics manufacturer build its first United States plant in Wisconsin. Walker and Gou noted the symbolism of the wings has special significance because the project to bring Foxconn to…

How does fake news find its way into our respective social media feeds and how far can it travel? Filippo Menczer, a professor at the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing, says “bots” propel fake news into the highest corridors of influence online, even as far as the Twitter feed of the President of…