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“Brussel’s citizens are not lab rats whose health can be sold for profit”. These were the words used by Brussel’s Minister of Environment to oppose the introduction of 5G (Evers 2019). Since then, more and more people have spoken out against the faster network in fear of its negative affect on our health. Two weeks ago, a national demonstration was held, attracting hundreds of people (NOS 2019). Those opposing 5G substantiate their apprehension by quoting experts and referring to researches discussing health risk. Yet, these protesters do not seem to be taken very seriously and their arguments are often falsified by citing contradicting study results.

 

After the European Commission’s action plan for the development of 5G in September 2016, the Dutch government made contributing to with this objective a priority. In 2019, the European Commission was forced to ask European countries to analyze the safety risk of 5G (Europa Nu 2019) After doing so, the Dutch government stated that 5G is not proven to have any negative impact on our health (NOS 2019).

 

So, does that also mean that 5G is proven to NOT have any unfavorable health consequences? Well, not exactly. The reasons that there is no conclusive research is simple: it is just not possible. The negative effects of radiation can only be determined after lengthy exposing, meaning it will take up to sixty years to get definite results (Evers 2019; Hewings-Martin 2019). The fact that the government is going through with the initiative despite the lacking information, leads to some saying that our health is being put at risk, evoking the earlier discussed image of lab rats. Then why is the government still so eager to put 5G to use? 5G will enable “faster browsing, streaming, and download speeds, as well as better connectivity”, thus playing a vital role in the widespread implementation of Internet of Things (Hewings-Martin 2019). 5G will particularly be a significant stimulator for the advancement of integrated systems, like autonomous cars, medical technology and robotics. While this all sounds very beneficial, it might not be worth putting or health on the line for.

 

If we cannot base the decision on conclusive research, the next best thing is to listen to the views of experts. According to radiation expert Vandenbosch electromagnetic radiation can cause ionization, dividing electrons from atoms, creating positive ions. Consequently, biochemical processes will appear, possibly leading to DNA-damage and demolition of proteins. However, “the frequency of a 5G-network is about a million times too low to trigger these kinds of processes.” (Evers 2019). A well-known biological effect of radiation is heating (Hewings-Martin 2019). Scientist are divided whether the amount of radiation we will be exposed to, is enough to significantly increase our body temperature. Even though the chance that our body will be heated indeed seems likely, this consequence does not really bring any serious health risks (Klomp 2019). One of the biggest concerns associated with 5G, is the fact that the number of antennas will severely increase. Due to the higher frequency of 5G, the radio signal has a harder time going through walls, hence needing more antennas. As a result, people fear that that they will me more exposed to radiation, especially since the impact of radiation is correlated with the distance to the source. Yet, because your cellphone and other personal electronic devices are far closer to your body, the negative effects of antennas are almost neglectable in comparison. Vandenbosch even goes as far as to say that the total radiation load will increase, because all the many individual antennas radiate significantly less each (Evers 2019). While this all sounds relatively reassuring, only time will tell if 5G really is risk free when study results can give us conclusive answers.

 

Europa Nu (2019).Brussel wil analyse veiligheidsrisico’s 5G. [online] Available at:

https://www.europanu.nl/id/vkx4o4e1ndz0/nieuws/brussel_wil_analyse_veiligheidsrisico_s?ctx=vim2bx14ecsu&s0e=vifdkm1d06kk&tab=0 [Accessed 19 September 2019]

Evers, F. (2019). Is 5G slecht voor uw gezondheid? [online] De Morgen. Available at:

https://www.demorgen.be/tech-wetenschap/is-5g-slecht-voor-uw-gezondheid~b2ca3986/ [Accessed 19 September 2019]

Hewings-Martin, Y. (2019). Is 5G technology bad for our health? [online] Medical News

Today. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326141.php[Accessed 20 September 2019]

Klomp, C. (2019). Is 5G schadelijk voor de gezondheid? [online] AD. Available at:

https://www.ad.nl/tech/is-5g-schadelijk-voor-de-gezondheid~a09354d4/ [Accessed 25 September 2019]

NOS (2019). Honderden betogers bij demonstratie tegen 5G.[online] Available at:

https://nos.nl/artikel/2300973-honderden-betogers-bij-demonstratie-tegen-5g.html[Accessed 20 September 2019]

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No expert will deny that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the banking landscape drastically and will continue to do so in the coming years. However, not everyone seems to agree on the impact AI will have on banker’s jobs. While some say that the majority of bankers will face unemployment in the next decade, others are less convinced about the negative impact that bankers will experience due to automation (Marria, 2018).

Surely, if a task can be automated by a machine, there is very little incentive for banks to let humans perform it. Not only is there a positive correlation between revenue and digitalizing in banks, the advantages of the increased efficiency also outweigh the disadvantages of restructuring, like the moral issues of laying off staff (Chandarana, Faridi, Moon & Schulz, 2017). Hence, at least thirty percent of tasks in the banking sector will be taken over by AI. This mainly entails tasks that require basic cognitive skills, such as administration, data processing and customer service (Bughin, Hazan, Lund, Dahlström, Wiesinger & Subramaniam, 2018; Marria, 2018).

However, the fact that thirty percent of tasks are being replaced, does not necessarily mean that thirty percent of all bankers will lose their job. Because less time has to be spent on routine tasks, bankers can focus more on other activities, such as customer relation management and research, amplifying the importance of creativity and problem-solving skills (Autor, 2015; Chandarana et al., 2017). Apart from a renewed need for management occupations, the demand for technology experts and analyst will increase (Autor, 2015; Bughin et al., 2018; Manning, 2018). Singapore’s OCBC Bank even went as far as too hire more employees in 2018. It’s head of AI Lab explained: “Besides data scientists, who develop AI algorithms and models, we are also hiring more engineers to manage these AI applications, and business managers who understand how to leverage AI within the business to increase efficiencies and improve customer experiences.” (Manning, 2018).

Even though there are examples of positive implications of AI like the one above, it cannot be ignored that banks have laid off a significant number of employees in previous years (Chandarana et al., 2017). Bankers performing routine task will have to make place for AI and the new jobs created by automation will most likely not outweigh the number of positions lost (Marria, 2018). Therefore, there is no denying that the decreased need for human involvement will cause job loss to some extent, but to claim the Era of the Banker is over is premature to say the least.

Autor, D.H. (2015). Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace
automation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 29(3), 3-33.
Bughun, J., Hazan, E., Lund, S., Dahlström, P., Wiesinger, A. & Subramaniam, A. (2018).
Skill shift: Automation and the future of the workforce. McKinsey Global Institute. Retrieved September 15, 2019 from https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/future-of-work/skill-shift-automation-and-the-future-of-the-workforce#part%202
Chandarana, D., Faridi, F., Moon, J. & Schulz, C. (2017). How cognitive technologies are
transforming capital markets. McKinsey Global Institute. Retrieved September 15, 2019 from https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/cognitive-technologies-in-capital-markets
Manning, J. (2018, September 26). How AI is disrupting the banking industry. International
Banker. Retrieved September 15 2019 from https://internationalbanker.com/banking/how-ai-is-disrupting-the-banking-industry/
Marria, V. (2018, July 2018). Is Artificial Intelligence Replacing Jobs In Banking? Forbes.
Retrieved September 15 2019 from https://www.forbes.com/sites/vishalmarria/2018/09/26/is-artificial-intelligence-replacing-jobs-in-banking/#4054d76a3c55