If the robots are going to take all or most of our jobs, why is unemployment near an all-time low?

Then there's the whole "gig" economy, the Uber-ization of employment, where workers stitch together a number of roles to make a living. Some love it (flexibility or control over earnings), some hate it. The former consist in large part of the relatively less skilled but super-hard-working set; the latter are often higher-skilled and -educated but are at the whim of the market.

And don't get me started on nascent/hidden age discrimination...

As someone who actively works in a facility that has frequent errors due to human inputs, difficulty finding enough people to work on a daily basis, and plenty of tasks that automation equipment already exists for I can guarantee that automation is no anywhere near what people imagine it is.

I have no clue how so many keep buying into this story either. It is like these people have never bothered to examine modern manufacturing. Automation is expensive and the talents to configure and maintain it are not abundant.

For instance I want to package a set number of small parts into a bag based on the customers order. The bag then needs have a small amount of oil added based on the parts weight, a barcode label applied with the customers part number, the manufacturing date, the quantity packed, and the purchase order number.

Nothing about this is hard but it means that I need a machine that can identify the parts correctly, pick up the correct quantity of parts, ensure the count is correct based on part weight when the bag is packed, put the correct quantity of oil in the bag, seal the bag so it doesn't leak, cross reference our internal part identifier to the data for the order (customer part number, purchase order #, etc), print a barcode label matching the appropriate barcode standard and apply that label to the bag so that it stays on the packaging.

This means I need a well maintained database of information, equipment that can precisely move small parts quickly, a calibrated oil dispenser that doesn't risk spilling chemicals into the environment when not monitored, a label printer that doesn't jam often, etc.... And this is just for a simple task outside of actually making or transporting the parts. Expensive to set-up and then you need processes and understanding to maintain it. It is the direction we want to go for sure, but you only have some much in the budget in a given year and so many engineers to make it work.

dafaq? wrote: Out of the 50 or so people I know, none of them works in a robot factory or does anything related to robots.

Out of the 50 or so people I know, none of them works in a bakery or does anything related to baking.

what's your point?

cheers.

Nobody wants to say it but I got 2 words for y'all. TRUMP.

More people need to be hired to design, program and service the robots.

And robots create efficiencies and higher production that other workers need to keep up with. Plus it requires more analysis which are new jobs that didn't exist before.

The invention of the shovel didn't lead to layoffs of hand diggers.

The in invention of bulldozers and sewing machines didn't put people out of work.

Robots don't put people out of work. It changes the type of work that is done.

Hardloper wrote:

sbeefyk2 wrote:

Because the number of individuals participating in the workforce is getting lower and lower. So less people in the workforce means lower unemployment rate. Chalk it up to retirements and people getting paid under the table.

Not true, the workforce is continuing to expand by about 100k a month. The robots aren't taking all our jobs either, that's all sci fi/reddit philosopher nonsense.

I can assure you it is not. Automation in the past has resulted in humans doing jobs that complement or add a service to the innovations that technology has provided. Problem is that robots and AI will become so powerful that the natural compliment in innovation will be filled by more robots or AI. Rendering us useless.

Orange elephant wrote:

Nobody wants to say it but I got 2 words for y'all. TRUMP.

On this area he is right. He knows capital is mobile and by reducing tax to as low as he can make it then business will come back therefore jobs too. Hate all you like but he is spot on here and many democrats wanted to do this previously but could not get it done.

X-Runner wrote:

More people need to be hired to design, program and service the robots.

And robots create efficiencies and higher production that other workers need to keep up with. Plus it requires more analysis which are new jobs that didn't exist before.

The invention of the shovel didn't lead to layoffs of hand diggers.

The in invention of bulldozers and sewing machines didn't put people out of work.

Robots don't put people out of work. It changes the type of work that is done.

But this was my point, soon the robots will service the robots. Then what?

Rayo. wrote:

Hardloper wrote:

Not true, the workforce is continuing to expand by about 100k a month. The robots aren't taking all our jobs either, that's all sci fi/reddit philosopher nonsense.

I can assure you it is not. Automation in the past has resulted in humans doing jobs that complement or add a service to the innovations that technology has provided. Problem is that robots and AI will become so powerful that the natural compliment in innovation will be filled by more robots or AI. Rendering us useless.

AI requires input from humans in order to do be useful for humans and therefore the role of humans cannot be replaced. Furthermore, AI can't even drive a car in rainy conditions yet.

Hardloper wrote:

Rayo. wrote:

I can assure you it is not. Automation in the past has resulted in humans doing jobs that complement or add a service to the innovations that technology has provided. Problem is that robots and AI will become so powerful that the natural compliment in innovation will be filled by more robots or AI. Rendering us useless.

AI requires input from humans in order to do be useful for humans and therefore the role of humans cannot be replaced. Furthermore, AI can't even drive a car in rainy conditions yet.

*Yet.

Welcome to the world of robot maintenance. So many production processes will be brought back from China that there will be a massive shortage of robot maintainers (or possibly you could join the Robot Relations Department, if you prefer a desk job).

Hardloper wrote:

Rayo. wrote:

I can assure you it is not. Automation in the past has resulted in humans doing jobs that complement or add a service to the innovations that technology has provided. Problem is that robots and AI will become so powerful that the natural compliment in innovation will be filled by more robots or AI. Rendering us useless.

AI requires input from humans in order to do be useful for humans and therefore the role of humans cannot be replaced. Furthermore, AI can't even drive a car in rainy conditions yet.

Stop being a short-sighted boob, Tardloper! Where have we come in 100 years with technology and robotics? Do you honestly believe our development of tech will slow during the next 100 or 200 years?

You're like a pea-brained pigeon pecking at the ground with all that insight you have.

AI can't even drive a car in the rain yet! Oh no! Better just give up completely!

You mist know understand technology on a low level, or else you'd see where we have come from and the direction we can and are going.

When I was a kid, paperboys were not wage salaried employees and hence were not subject to minimum wage.

We got monthly pay related to what they wanted to pay for the # of newspapers we delivered. I think the best I ever got was $180/month back around 1983-84. I do know this: I did a lot better job than the adult who throws our newspaper from a car, filled in two plastic bags and still gets it soaked on rainy days because they throw it at the bottom of the driveway.

I would place the newspaper (no bags) in between the screen and the front door if there was inclement weather.

Government job programs. The largest one being the military.

TAA wrote:

Government job programs. The largest one being the military.

Look at what government funding can achieve.

Wait till Trump has control of an army of these guys!

sbeefyk2 wrote:

Because the number of individuals participating in the workforce is getting lower and lower. So less people in the workforce means lower unemployment rate. Chalk it up to retirements and people getting paid under the table.

FPBP

If you're going to die, why are you alive now?