DailyDirt: Robot Slaves Co-workers
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Robots are getting better and cheaper all the time. Sure, they're not perfect, but then neither are humans (and we, initially, design and build the robots). Some day, though, robots might start improving upon themselves at a rate that outpaces our human capacity. It could be a huge benefit to civilization to be able to replace all dangerous labor with robotic slaves, but some folks are worried about what the world will look like when robots are really that advanced. Here are just a few links on the scenarios of a robot-dominated age of technology.- The rise of "capital-biased technological change" could start with robots taking more and more jobs away from humans. Is this really a problem? Some think it could be, and the possibility of a robot-led economic disaster is at least worth some thought. [url]
- The US is a country with high growth in robot employment. South Korea's robot employment rate, though, is even higher. [url]
- In 1814, about 70% of all American workers lived on a farm -- that number is more like 1% now. Automation could make about 70% of today's occupations obsolete, but will new robot jobs (that we haven't even imagined yet) spur a new wave of economic growth? [url]
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: ai, artificial intelligence, automation, capital-biased technological change, luddites, robot age, robot employment, robots, unemployment
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Interesting
WHICH is cheaper?
having JOBS or NOT having JOBS??
aND FARMING HAS always BEEN ONE OF THE LOWEST paid jobs..
One point in all this, is the reasoning WHY we need more electrical power in this nation..and WHY prices keep going UP for electrical power.
In the last 40-50 years, automation has taken over, 50% of the jobs int he USA, with few other jobs to take up the slack..Its nice to take a Dangerous job and hand it to Automation, but MINOR jobs are being overrun with 1 person doing the job of 4...
CHECK OUT self checkout at stores..1 person covering 4 Customers doing the JOB themselves..and the price of FOOD is still to high..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Insurance sales reps: Can be done using website like geico.com .
Teachers: Can be done using online web courses.
Bank tellers: Can be done using ATMs and online/phone banking.
Cashiers: Can be done using self checkouts.
Manufacturing: Can be done though automated CNC machines.
Farming: Can be done using unmanned automated combine harvesters and tractors.
Taxis, trucks, delivery services, trains, planes, ships, space rockets, buses: Can be driven and piloted using unmanned automated vehicles.
Mining: Can be done using unmanned automated dump trucks and drilling machines.
Fast Food and Restaurant Industry: Can be done using interactive touch screen menus with little robots rolling up to your table.
Warehouses: Can be done using unmanned automated fork trucks to retrieve orders off the warehouse shelves.
Some of this explains why there's at least 3 people applying for every available job opening, presently. I wonder what all these people are going to do for jobs in the future.
I suppose most people will need to be programs, so they can program all the automated machines. The problem is it only takes a handful of people to oversee hundreds, if not thousands, of machines.
Something's definitely going to need changing in the future structure of our society. I can't see billions of people being software programmers, engineers, doctors, scientists, researchers and developers.
There's definitely going to be a lot of slums with people living off welfare or starving. Most people aren't educated enough to fill the few remaining jobs, let alone enough non-robotic jobs to employ all these people.
Personally, I think climate change, famine, and economic collapse will hit most of us before all the robots take over our jobs.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Corp mentality is 1 PRO..that knows the job
99 idiots working for LOW wages..
It wont matter that you have a Masters degree, IF you cant find/get a job, you will Go for the JOB that gives you money, Works you to death, and you wont have time to find a better(how can you say that, its HIGHER PAYING JOB) job..
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
read manna
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I'm confused...
was "Slaves Co-workers", now "Robot Co-workers"
or
was "Robot Slaves", now "Robot Co-workers"
:-P
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]