HOT

Jason Fane

New York and Toronto developer Jason Fane’s new proposed design is bold and responsive to feedback. While many, including architectural critic Will Morgan, called the initial design for the building “bland” and more appropriate for Phoenix, the new design far more interesting.

Is Providence ready for a 600-foot tower? Will preservationists and neighborhood groups be open to any kind of design? The battle is on.

HOT

Robots and AI

Robots are coming. For robots the future is bright, but for workers, the impact may be more complex. According to Darrell West of Brookings and his new book, “The Future of Work: Robots, AI, and Automation," the reality and the disruption is truly emerging:

There is widespread fear that robots and AI will take jobs and throw millions of people into poverty. A Pew Research Center study asked 1,896 experts about the impact of emerging technologies and found “half of these experts (48 percent) envision a future in which robots and digital agents [will] have displaced significant numbers of both blue- and white-collar workers—with many expressing concern that this will lead to vast increases in income inequality, masses of people who are effectively unemployable, and breakdowns in the social order.”

These fears have been echoed by detailed analyses showing anywhere from a 14 to 54 percent automation impact on jobs. For example, a Bruegel analysis found that “54% of EU jobs [are] at risk of computerization.” Using European data, they argue that job losses are likely to be significant and people should prepare for large-scale disruption.

Meanwhile, Oxford University researchers Carl Frey and Michael Osborne claim that technology will transform many sectors of life. They studied 702 occupational groupings and found that “47 percent of U.S. workers have a high probability of seeing their jobs automated over the next 20 years.”

A McKinsey Global Institute analysis of 750 jobs concluded that “45% of paid activities could be automated using ‘currently demonstrated technologies’ and . . . 60% of occupations could have 30% or more of their processes automated.” A more recent McKinsey report, “Jobs Lost, Jobs Gained,” found that 30 percent of “work activities” could be automated by 2030 and up to 375 million workers worldwide could be affected by emerging technologies.

HOT

Briana White, Back Rhodes and LunchBagg

There is one place Rhode Island can compete with any state regardless of size - local emerging, talented musicians.

Want to change the course of your day? Transform your mood? Feel good about America? Click on the links of any of the three different performers who played The Alex and Ani Lounge this week.

Briana White

Back Rhodes

Lunchbagg

HOT

The Pavillion at Grace Church

Architectural Critic writes about Providence's new addition:

The Pavilion’s abundance of clear light might be seen as an antidote to the over-the-top Victorian nave next door.

There are some handsome details, namely the suspended wood ceiling panels (with micro perforations to admit pinpricks of light) and the translucent panels of the west wall that are meant to suggest rice paper.

What could be farther from then ornate painted walls of the church than these reverberations of a kind of Quaker-Japanese aesthetic?

What is most striking is the way the ceiling has been sliced apart, as if it were a schematic diagram of the ribs of Chartres or Salisbury cathedrals.

It has meaningfully enlarged the church’s facilities and created a welcoming space downtown.

The church gets high marks for recognizing both its heritage and the streetscape, for its willingness to commit capital to hire a respected architectural firm.

A Christian pilgrim’s labyrinth, designed by the rector and RISD professor Andrew Raftery, is outlined in the open court between church and street.

As Raftery, who has a studio in the church, says of the pavilion, “It is a wonderful contribution to Providence. I am really proud of this church.”

North and South Korea

North and South Korea signed a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War, 65 years after hostilities ended, the two countries announced in a joint press conference on Friday.

The document, formally called the “Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification on the Korean Peninsula,” was revealed after a full day of meetings and a 30-minute private conversation between Kim Jong Un and Moon Jae-in, according to CNN.

“The two leaders solemnly declare ... that there will be no more war on the Korean Peninsula and a new era of peace has begun,” the declaration said. 

NOT

Matt Brown

The former RI Secretary of State has an interesting resume and is back in Rhode Island to run for Governor — kudos on that, but he needs to be available to voters and the media to answer reasonable questions about his campaign donors and his salary as the head of a small non-profit.

A $300,000 compensation package seems like it needs a little explanation when the organization’s budget ranges between $2 million and $2.5 million.

NOT

Jorge Elorza

The city of Providence has a massive financial cloud looming. It has one of the highest unfunded pension liabilities -- in Rhode Island and the nation.

For four years, Mayor has kicked the can and keeps planning parties instead. 

NOT

Nick Mattiello

The Speaker took a hit for using the wrong campaign finance funds for the wrong political activity. Devastating? No. Embarrassing? Yes.  Needs to get back to his earlier success of reform — ethics legislation, repealing master lever, and Ethics Commission transparency.

He looks better in a white hat.

NOT

Tuukka Rask

YIKES. The Bruins are good, really good, but in the NHL you win the Stanley Cup with a hot goalie and Rask is looking mighty shaky, sporting a 2.99 goals against average and a .899 save percentage.

Those kinds of numbers usually get you an early tee time.

NOT

Bill Cosby

For so many Americans Bill Cosby was a constant — from Fat Albert to The Cosby Show — he was the brilliant comedian, actor, and musician (having played Newport Jazz numerous times). But the reality was dark and perverse.

He was found guilty on Thursday of drugging and molesting a woman and could serve up to 30 years in prison. 

Cosby was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault against Andrea Constand, a Temple University employee that Cosby mentored. 

The three counts include penetration with lack of consent, penetration while unconscious, and penetration after administering an intoxicant.