AFP USA

The fires ravaging upmarket Los Angeles districts Pacific Palisades and Malibu will be the most expensive ever to hit California, according to experts, who expect premiums to rise in a region already abandoned by many insurers.Analysts at JPMorgan estimated that the total cost of damage and insured damage had doubled in less than 24 hours to $50 billion and $20 billion respectively. And the flames were still advancing on several fronts Friday.These record levels already far outstrip the 2017 Tubbs fire and the 2018 Camp fire, whose estimates of insured damage have climbed, according to sources, to as much as $16 billion.The value of the houses makes all the difference: At this stage, more than 10,000 buildings have been destroyed this week, the vast majority of them homes worth an average of $3 million.By comparison, some 18,000 buildings were destroyed in the Camp fire in 2018, but the average house was only around $500,000.David Burt, the founder and director of DeltaTerra, a consultancy firm specializing in climate-related financial risks, estimates that the market value of the 15,400 homes in Pacific Palisades is close to $13.5 billion.Despite the high cost of the damage, experts believe insurance companies should have no problem compensating their customers.According to Standard and Poor’s, the insurers are starting 2025 with comfortable reserves thanks to strong financial results over the last two years.They have also significantly reduced their presence in the Californian regions that are highly exposed to fire risk, and are also well diversified.The JPMorgan analysts see things the same way, insisting that, at this stage, it expects “the vast majority of losses stemming from the wildfires to be concentrated in homeowners’ insurance,” and a “significantly lesser amount” in commercial fire and personal auto.- Insurance ‘exodus’ -“There’s been a mass exodus of big players from the market in these parts of California,” Ben Keys, a real estate and finance professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, told a conference Friday.”We’ve seen enormous non-renewals recently,” he said. On Wednesday, California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, announced that homeowners in areas affected by and around the fires would be protected for a year against non-renewal and cancellation of coverage. This type of measure protected more than a million contracts in 2024.In 1968, the coastal state set up a public insurance scheme, called FAIR, for homeowners who could no longer find a private insurer.This “band-aid” was supposed to be temporary while people moved from one insurance policy to another, but has now expanded well beyond its intended use, lamented Keys, pointing out that its exposure had risen from $50 billion in 2018 to more than $450 billion today.To bring companies back on board, Commissioner Lara has also initiated a reform process authorizing them to increase premiums on condition that they do not apply any geographical exclusions.There is no longer any question of “cherry-picking” to select the best contracts, said Susan Crawford, an expert on climate and geopolitics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.”The acceleration in ferocious weather events… should trigger awareness that actually things do need to change,” she said. “We need some measure of political adjustments in reaction to rapid climate change.”In the meantime, Californians — and perhaps Americans nationwide — should prepare for an increase in premiums; 2025 has only just begun, and the previous year was marked by some destructive disasters.According to modelling by the specialist website AccuWeather, hurricanes Milton and Helene caused $160-$180 billion and $225-$250 billion in damage respectively. On Wednesday, it estimated the total cost of the Los Angeles fires so far at between $135 billion and $150 billion.The State Department published a new national strategy on climate change Friday, stating that climate-related disasters like winter storms and hurricanes had caused $182.7 billion in economic losses in 2024 — twice as much as in 2023.

A US judge held former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court on Friday for continuing to defame two Georgia election workers.Giuliani, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, was ordered by a federal jury in Washington in December 2023 to pay nearly $148 million to Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss for repeatedly making false claims that they engaged in 2020 election fraud.At a court hearing in Washington on Friday, District Judge Beryl Howell found Giuliani in contempt and threatened him with potential fines if he continues to make defamatory remarks about the pair.It was the second time this week the 80-year-old Giuliani was found in contempt of court.A district judge in New York held him in contempt on Monday for failing to reveal information about assets he has been ordered to hand over to Freeman and Moss.Giuliani attacked Howell following the hearing in Washington, calling her a “mockery of a judge” and saying she is “dying to give me a prison sentence.””I shouldn’t be the one that’s paying fines,” he told reporters. “I shouldn’t be the one in contempt, she should be.”Giuliani was a key figure in Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. A former New York prosecutor, he has been disbarred over his false election claims.Giuliani, who has filed for bankruptcy, has been ordered to surrender his $6 million New York apartment, a 1980 Mercedes Benz convertible, jewelry, luxury watches, and valuable collectible items including a jersey signed by baseball legend Joe DiMaggio.Giuliani was found guilty of defaming the two women as they took part in a vote count in the swing state of Georgia after the presidential election in 2020.Using a video showing the two women passing an object — later revealed to be a mint — the former New York mayor claimed they were exchanging a USB drive “like vials of heroin or cocaine” to rig the results.Freeman and Moss, who are Black, told the jury during the defamation trial that Giuliani’s false accusations had upended their lives and made them the target of racist threats.An eight-person federal jury awarded Freeman and Moss more than $16 million each for defamation, $20 million each for emotional distress and $75 million in punitive damages.

Winds calmed Friday around Los Angeles, providing a fleeting window of opportunity in a firefighting battle against five major blazes wreaking havoc across the city.At least 10 people have died as flames ripped through neighborhoods, razing thousands of homes in one of the worst disasters ever to hit California, with one estimate suggesting the bill could hit $150 billion.As the scale of the damage to America’s second-biggest city started to come into focus, Angelenos grappled with heart-rending ruin.”I lost everything. My house burned down and I lost everything,” Hester Callul, who reached a shelter after fleeing her Altadena home, told AFP.As fears of looting and crime grow, California Governor Gavin Newsom deployed the National Guard to bolster law enforcement. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna imposed a nighttime curfew in some areas.”This curfew will be strictly enforced and is being taken to enhance public safety, protect property and prevent any burglaries or looting in the area that the residents have evacuated,” he said.Luna said anyone who falls foul of the rule could be jailed.”We are not screwing around with this,” he said.The five separate fires have so far burned more than 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares), California’s fire agency reported.Authorities have said it was too early to know the cause of the blazes.- ‘Still very dangerous’ -A temporary lull in winds has enabled progress in tackling the fires.The biggest of the blazes has ripped through more than 20,000 acres of the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood, where firefighters said they were starting to get the fire under control.By Friday eight percent of its perimeter was contained — meaning it can’t spread any further in that direction.The Eaton fire in the Altadena area was three percent checked, with almost 14,000 acres scorched and key infrastructure — including communication towers — threatened.A third fire that exploded Thursday afternoon near Calabasas and the wealthy Hidden Hills enclave, home to celebrities like Kim Kardashian, added to the feeling of encirclement.”You just feel surrounded,” one woman told a local broadcaster.After a massive response to the blaze, including retardant drops from planes and helicopters dumping vast quantities of water, the fire was 35 percent surrounded, firefighters said on Friday.But federal emergency chiefs warned the situation is “still very dangerous” and the reprieve from intense gusts that spread embers will not last.”It is still very dynamic. The winds have died down today, but as I just got a weather briefing… the winds are going to increase again in the coming days,” said Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”The beauty of the wind dying down is that they can get better control over the fires, but it also doesn’t blow the smoke out,” she told a White House briefing.- ‘Heartbroken’ -AFP journalists surveyed the Pacific Palisades and Malibu via helicopter, witnessing mile after mile of obliteration.”This is crazy… All these homes, gone,” said pilot Albert Azouz.On highly coveted Malibu oceanfront plots, skeletal frames of buildings indicated the fire’s power, with many multimillion-dollar mansions vanishing entirely.Socialite and hotel heiress Paris Hilton was among those whose homes were lost.”Heartbroken beyond words,” she wrote on Instagram.”Sitting with my family, watching the news, and seeing our home in Malibu burn to the ground on live TV is something no one should ever have to experience.The fires could be the costliest ever recorded, with AccuWeather estimating total damage and loss between $135 billion and $150 billion.Beyond the immediate carnage, the fires disrupted life for millions: schools were closed, hundreds of thousands were without power and major events were canceled or, in the case of an NFL playoff game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings, moved.Meteorologist Mike Woofford of the National Weather Center told AFP winds would lessen Friday and Saturday, offering a vital opportunity to firefighters.”We’re seeing a little bit of a decrease now, but more so this afternoon dropping off, and then not much wind tomorrow, until later in the day,” he said.”For sure, good news,” he said, but cautioned it remained dry and winds were expected to return.Wildfires occur naturally, but scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather and changing the dynamics of the blazes.Two wet years in southern California have given way to a very dry one, leaving ample fuel on the ground primed to burn.

Social media giant Meta announced Friday it is dismantling its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs across the company, marking another major shift in strategy as it aligns with politically conservative priorities.In an internal memo to employees, the company outlined sweeping changes including the elimination of its diverse slate hiring approach and the disbanding of its DEI team.The move comes amid what Meta describes as “a changing legal and policy landscape” following recent Supreme Court decisions against programs that allowed for increased diversity priorities at US universities.The memo, first reported by Axios, landed days after Meta abruptly overhauled its content moderation policies, including ending its US fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram, in a major shift that conforms with the priorities of incoming president Donald Trump.That announcement echoed long-standing complaints made by Trump’s Republican Party and X owner Elon Musk about fact-checking and moderating hate speech on social media.Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has been moving aggressively to reconcile with Trump since his election in November, including donating $1 million to his inauguration fund and hiring a Republican as his public affairs chief.On Friday he sat down for an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan in which he bitterly criticized the Biden administration for asking that content be censored on Meta platforms during the coronavirus pandemic.- Threats from Trump -Trump has been a harsh critic of Meta and Zuckerberg for years, accusing the company of bias against him and threatening to retaliate against the tech billionaire once back in office.Republicans are also fiercely against DEI programs in corporate America, many of which were established in the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter movement and the nation’s attempt to reckon with longstanding racial disparities.In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s election victory in November, Walmart and a string of prestige brands — from Ford, John Deere and Lowe’s to Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniel’s — also scaled back programs aimed at bolstering minority groups.In its memo, Meta said its Chief Diversity Officer Maxine Williams will transition to a new role focused on accessibility and engagement, as the company phases out its dedicated DEI initiatives.The parent company of Facebook and Instagram will also terminate its supplier diversity program, which previously prioritized sourcing from diverse-owned businesses. Instead, Meta says it will focus on supporting small and medium-sized businesses more broadly.”We serve everyone,” the memo stated, emphasizing that the company will continue to source candidates from different backgrounds while eliminating specific representation goals for women and ethnic minorities that were previously in place.

Producers of hi-tech connected eyewear are multiplying their innovations with increasingly discreet models in an attempt to make a difference in a highly competitive — and fast-emerging — market.Live translation, GPS, cameras: glasses are quickly adopting new functionalities.”There are so many of these smart wearables, and more of them are going on your face,” said Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, where numerous smart glasses manufacturers showcased their latest innovations.The industry has come a long way from its early days. Gone are the conspicuous protrusions of Google Glass and the bulky frames and cables of Epson’s Moverio from the early 2010s.Today’s smart glasses, all paired with smartphone apps, increasingly resemble traditional eyewear. The Ray-Ban Meta, developed by Mark Zuckerberg’s social media giant, currently leads the market with this new approach.According to a recent MarketsandMarkets study, the sector’s growth is “driven by advancements in augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and miniaturization technologies, which are pushing the boundaries of what these wearable devices can achieve.” However, integrating technology into fashionable frames requires careful compromise.The Ray-Ban Meta, for instance, can capture photos and videos, play music, and provide information about objects in view, but doesn’t offer augmented reality with superimposed images. Meta representative Robin Dyer explained that while AR capabilities may come later, they would likely double the current price.- 200 dollars -Price is a major battleground in this market, particularly with the entry of Chinese manufacturers.While Google Glass initially retailed for around $1,500 in 2013, today’s smart glasses are approaching the price of premium conventional frames.Meta’s James Nickerson noted that their Ray-Ban collaboration starts at $300, just $50 more than standard Ray-Bans, offering “a cool camera” as a bonus.Chinese startup Vue has pushed prices even lower, offering basic models with voice assistant and music capabilities for $200.Some manufacturers, like XReal, focus on augmented reality, projecting smartphone, computer, or gaming console displays — though this is a market for which Apple’s VisonPro failed to create excitement last year.For AR, recent advances help move away from the bulk of a virtual reality headset towards that of classic sunglasses, even if they require a cable to be connected to the device. Meta’s ambition is to launch its own pared down version, the Orion, currently in the test phase but not expected to be marketed until 2027 at the earliest.- Chasing cool -Companies like Even Realities and Halliday are pioneering ultra-thin frames that look identical to standard glasses while offering basic AR capabilities.”If we want to make a good pair of smart glasses, we must first make a pair of cool glasses,” emphasized Carter Hou, Halliday’s second-in-command. Halliday’s $489 model, launching in March, displays text in the upper corner of the wearer’s vision. Using AI, it can suggest responses during conversations, provide real-time translation, and function as a discrete teleprompter. Even Realities has also taken a minimalist approach.”We got rid of the speaker, we got rid of the camera,” explained the company’s Tom Ouyang. “Glasses are for the eyes, not the ears.”

An illegal drone flying over the fire-wrecked ruins of a Los Angeles neighborhood left a “fist-sized” hole when it collided with a firefighting aircraft, the county’s fire chief said Friday.The Super Scooper — a vital tool in the battle against the devastating blazes — was grounded after the collision and will not be back in the air until Monday, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told reporters.The pilots who had been flying sorties over the Pacific Palisades burn, had been unaware of the collision and landed safely, he said.Ground “maintenance staff noticed that there was a fist-sized hole in the leading edge of the wing,” he said.”That Super Scooper will be prioritized for repair (and) it should be flying Monday,” Marrone added. “We only have two of them.”Marrone said flying a drone in a wildfire area was illegal and dangerous, creating huge problems for the helicopters and planes trying to quell the massive fires.”The most important thing to know is that if you fly a drone at one of these brush fires, all aerial operations will be shut down.”Marrone said federal agencies were erecting electronic screening systems that would be able to identify who was operating illegal drones, with the county’s district attorney Nathan Hochman pledging to come down hard on offenders.”If you’re thinking that it’s fun to send a drone up in the area… you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted, and you will be punished to the full extent of the law,” Hochman said.Multiple fires raging around Los Angeles have razed over 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares), killing at least 10 people and destroying 10,000 homes and businesses.The fires, which erupted on Tuesday, amount to one of the worst disasters in California history, with one estimate putting the cost of the damage at $150 billion.

US job gains soared past expectations in December, according to government data released Friday, in a sign the labor market remains healthy shortly before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration this month.This indicates he is set to inherit an economy in relatively good shape, despite running an election campaign in which he painted its condition as a disaster.Hiring in the world’s biggest economy stood at 256,000 last month, up from a revised 212,000 in November, the Labor Department said.The December figure was significantly above the market consensus estimate of 154,000, according to Briefing.com.The jobless rate meanwhile crept down to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent.The latest report marks a solid end to 2024 for the jobs market, which has held up in the face of elevated interest rates, allowing consumers to continue spending.Outgoing President Joe Biden lauded his administration’s performance.”Although I inherited the worst economic crisis in decades with unemployment above six percent when I took office, we’ve had the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years with unemployment at 4.1 percent as I leave,” he said in a statement.”This has been a hard-fought recovery,” he added.In a separate statement, Biden noted the country saw 21 million new business applications during his administration.The United States “generated 2.2 million jobs in 2024, the slowest pace since 2020, but still above 1.99 million in 2019,” said KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk.Trump’s return to the White House this month could bring uncertainty.He has pledged to cut taxes, raise tariffs on imports and deport undocumented immigrants — many of whom make up a significant part of the US labor force in sectors such as agriculture.- Interest rates steady? -“This is a good report, but not a blockbuster one as it seems at first glance,” said Robert Frick, corporate economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.”A big chunk of the headline number is from post-hurricane recovery, and the range of hiring remains narrow,” he noted.Yet, a surge in job growth could lead the US Federal Reserve to be slower in cutting interest rates this year, as officials work to bring down inflation sustainably.Such expectations sent Treasury yields higher early Friday.”Strength in the labor market, recent stalling in the disinflationary trend in inflation, and the prospect of changes in tariff and immigration policies that could push inflation higher will keep the Fed cautious and patient,” said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic.”We foresee them keeping rates steady throughout the first half of the year,” she added.For now, average hourly earnings picked up 0.3 percent from the month before in December to $35.69.From a year ago, wages were up 3.9 percent.Among sectors, employment trended up in health care, government, and social assistance, the Labor Department said.Retail trade also added jobs in December after a loss in November.”These data make at least a pause in cuts much more likely, which will push mortgage rates higher in the near term,” said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association.But Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, believes that Fed officials are likely to conclude that monetary policy is still restrictive.”Labor market data are so volatile and confidence intervals so wide that trends are best determined from at least six months of data,” he said in a note.

It was, by many measures, a trial like New York had definitely seen before — a panel of citizen jurors finding a real estate mogul guilty of business fraud.But it was anything but ordinary, because when it comes to Donald Trump, the average routinely turns surreal.His criminal sentencing after a conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records caps a roller coaster of delays and legal proceedings that began when the Republican was a former president, and ended on Friday just 10 days before he retakes the White House.What once had the potential to be one of the more dramatic sentencings in modern United States history ended with a tone of banality — via video chat, with Trump calling in from Florida, showing his age by leaning into the camera.Ultimately Trump’s re-election to lead the nation’s highest office spared him potential prison time, leaving him a convicted felon in name only.He was ever-defiant as dozens of journalists, court staffers, the prosecution and the judge gathered on the drafty 15th floor of Manhattan’s criminal court to hear the 78-year-old, wearing a striped red tie, call the proceedings an “embarrassment to New York,” his hometown.”I’m totally innocent” and “I got indicted over calling a legal expense a legal expense,” he said.”I was treated very very unfairly. Thank you very much,” Trump said to close his characteristic rant, which he delivered alongside his lawyer Todd Blanche and flanked by two American flags.- ‘Finality’ -The legal expense in question was hush money to a porn star to prevent word of their alleged sexual encounter from getting out in the days before the 2016 presidential election, which Trump ultimately won.Before he took the mic he fidgeted as prosecutors detailed his crimes as well as his contemptuous conduct before, during and after the trial, saying “the defendant has purposefully bred disdain” for the judicial system while threatening those who are a part of it.”Such threats are designed to have a chilling effect, to intimidate folks who have the responsibility to enforce our laws, in the hopes that they will ignore the defendant’s transgressions because they fear he is simply too powerful,” said prosecutor Joshua Steinglass.And yet, Steinglass agreed with Judge Juan Merchan’s ultimate decision to deliver a sentence of unconditional discharge, a measure that upholds the guilty verdict but does not sanction the convicted defendant.”The American public has the right to a presidency unencumbered by pending court proceedings,” Steinglass said. “Imposing this sentence ensures this finality.”For his part, Merchan took pains to emphasize Donald Trump, average citizen, would have received harsher punishment than President-elect Donald Trump will.”Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” Merchan said.”Yet the trial was a bit of a paradox,” he continued. “Once the courtroom doors were closed, the trial itself was no more special, unique or extraordinary than the other 32 criminal trials that took place in this courthouse at the same time.”The high-profile trial was “conducted pursuant to the rules of procedure and guided by the law,” Merchan said, an indirect takedown of Trump’s insistence that the proceedings amounted to a political “witch-hunt.”And after handing down the unconditional discharge — “the only lawful sentence” that the court deemed would ensure the functionality of the presidency — Merchan bid Trump farewell.”Sir, I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office,” he said.And with that, the historic first criminal trial of a US president was over, and the screen went blank.Donald Trump, convicted felon, had logged off.

The United States hiked its reward for information leading to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s arrest to $25 million Friday, saying his swearing-in was illegitimate after he “clearly lost” last year’s election.”The Venezuelan people and world know the truth — Maduro clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim the presidency,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, shortly after Maduro took the oath of office for a third term.Blinken called the ceremony “an illegitimate presidential inauguration” as he reiterated Washington’s position that exiled opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was Venezuela’s rightful president-elect.Maximum rewards for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro — as well as his interior secretary Diosdado Cabello — were being raised to $25 million, Blinken said.He also announced a new $15 million reward for Venezuelan defense minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez.All three rewards stem from US narco-trafficking charges announced in March 2020, two years after Maduro’s first re-election that Washington also rejected as illegitimate.In a separate announcement, the US Treasury Department said it was sanctioning eight senior officials who lead “key economic and security agencies enabling Nicolas Maduro’s repression and subversion of democracy in Venezuela.”Those designated include high-level officials from the military and police, and the presidents of the country’s state-owned oil company and airline.”Since last year’s election, Maduro and his associates have continued their repressive actions in Venezuela,” acting Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Bradley Smith said in a statement.”The United States, together with our likeminded partners, stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people’s vote for new leadership and rejects Maduro’s fraudulent claim of victory,” he added.The United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union were taking “similar actions” on Friday, demonstrating “a message of solidarity with the Venezuelan people,” the Treasury Department said. 

Today’s robots perform safety checks at industrial plants, conduct quality control in manufacturing, and are even starting to keep hospital patients company.But soon — perhaps very soon — these increasingly humanlike machines will handle more sophisticated tasks, freeing up people while raising complex questions about the roles of artificial intelligence that are gaining attention.At a panel hosted by the American Association of Retired Persons at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), experts described the next five years as a period where robots transition primarily from industrial sites to service settings, helping to address a worsening health care labor crunch.Seeing robotics in places like theme parks or universities “will lead to the companion robot probably at the end of the decade,” said Marc Theermann, chief strategy officer for robot company Boston Dynamics.Cris Gardner, a vice president in futurecasting at AARP, predicted robots will provide emotional support as they enter homes and assist with daily tasks.People “will own a generalized humanoid robot the way they would own a car,” she said.- Upheaval ahead? -Dystopian prophesies of a robot-centered future have long featured in the public imagination. However, recent breakthroughs in generative AI have given more credibility to predictions of billions of humanoid robots in everyday life.The centrality of robots in the coming years is “widely underappreciated,” said a report from Abundance 360, a conference and education venture led by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis. Robots could enable an “era of unprecedented abundance,” lowering costs while freeing humans “to focus on creative and fulfilling pursuits,” it said.However, the analysis also identified nine sectors facing potential job displacement, including manufacturing, elder care, agriculture, education, and surgery.”The speed at which multimodal generative AI and humanoid robot development is progressing, paired with the lack of public discourse on this subject, indicates that there will be significant job disruption and societal upheaval,” it said.Disputes over automation have been a recurring factor in labor negotiations, most recently involving US dockworkers, who reached a tentative agreement with a shippers group, averting a strike. The International Longshoremen’s Association permitted ports to add semiautonomous cranes only if more workers are hired, according to the Wall Street Journal.- Worker shortages -At CES, companies described robots as performing tasks that humans either shouldn’t do because they are dangerous, or don’t want to do because they are grueling, tedious, or unpleasant.Hong Kong company R2C2 showcased industrial robots that can perform functions such as inspections at power plants and technician work on trains, according to San Wong, the company’s founder and chief executive.Working on trains involves “lots of grease everywhere, and it’s dirty and hot” so turnover is high, San said.Vehicle and equipment maker Oshkosh has used automation to phase out high-burnout jobs such as the finishing work on firetrucks, which requires workers to wear a mask and often leads to shoulder and elbow problems, said chief executive John Pfeifer.Those workers have been shifted to other assembly line work, such as welding. While these jobs are currently safe, they may “one day” be automated, Pfeifer said.”This has been the evolution of the economy for 250 years,” he said. “People move into more productive ways to help the economy grow.”At CES, US agriculture machinery giant John Deere showcased autonomous vehicles developed partly in response to persistent farm labor shortages.Automation allows farmers to focus on more challenging tasks, such as managing grain movement from a field to a storage area, said Deanna Kovar, president of Deere’s worldwide agriculture and turf division.”We need to continue to make sure we’re evolving the skill sets of our employees, of our customers, so that they can take advantage of the technologies and not see them as a threat,” she said.AARP’s Gardner noted that the aging US population points to a significant labor gap for caring for the next generation of seniors.”The demand is going to be enormous, it can’t be covered by human beings,” said Gardner, who views improved robotics as key to enabling older people to stay independent for longer.