(Apr 9, 2015 07:48 PM)Yazata Wrote: Perhaps the scariest thing about less capable robots near-term is their ability to displace lesser-skilled workers from their jobs. In a generation, the majority of the US population might be unemployed, replaced by in many cases by machines.
I considered this point in regards to an story backlog for a game that hasn't been created yet. Set in the future when robots are more acceptable in the workplace for their unwaivering support of hard-working ethos, through the absence of being aware. The world's level of unemployment rockets where only those skilled in Engineering and Programming have the capacity to "maintain" those robots that are in use 24/7. The only potential for those that don't want to be flat broke is to buy a robot (or more than one) and sublease them to companies that then fill their production lines with robots that act as serogate workers on behalf of those people renting leasing out.
If you haven't the skills to be useful to robotics, then you just need to invest in ownership of robotics to secure an income. That income of course isn't limited to a 8-10hr day (or greater in some cases) but potentially for as long as the production line runs (that could be 23.85714285714286/7, or one hour maintenance per week) This would mean that robots would be literally the cheapest form of labour because they don't have to sleep, eat or use the toilet. They don't tire or suffer atrophy in the same sense that would cause a degrading in performance. There isn't any litigation caused by work related fraternisation, no change in the workplaces collective consciousness if the company is ever brought into disrepute or boards on a hostile takeover or bankruptcy. (To a fault those production lines would maintain their flow against any adversity. They'd be no labour unions, no strikes for rights or upset caused by employee layoffs.)
That said one man and his droid... army (an entire workforce) could close down a production line until either the production line is replaced by someone else's robotics or whatever deal has been made. One way of dealing with that particular problem is to limit the number of robots supplied by any individual to only a small number so a production system can work around a reduced processing capacity.
Robotics in the workplace (at least in that backlog scenario) is a future "rivot" in the depreciation of true social systems since it pushes society further into using the internet as it's only forms of social interaction. Which itself would likely be policed by automation looking for peoples inner terrorist to the fault of their parameters, handling grammar and spell checks and near enough writing what we want to hear when we push a button.
You might surprised how many times you can get the result you are looking for from Google without actually typing in proper words. It's search algorithm doesn't just search a "term" but approximates and can even use previously tracked searches [and possibly websites through adsense] as references to increase the correct yield. This can lead to some very lazy typing and searches.
In short your kids could protect their future if they study Computer Sciences and Engineering or just start buying Robotic company stock or stockpile robots themselves.
Apr 9, 2015 08:57 PM
