Are robots and technology behind the income gap?

[gwynedd1]

Re: Odds of Automating

1 ) No. It was moving large columns into Rome for a new construction project.
2 ) I've given you an argument, it's not my responsibility to find you an understanding. Re-read your answer.
3 ) See above.

You have given me a theory with no empirical evidence, thus I consider the subject matter to be fictional. It is up to me to spend my time wisely.

[santafe2]

Re: Odds of Automating

IMHO robotics is not going to follow Moore's Law even if computing power continues to do so. I believe this because the algorithms for seeing and understanding the world must improve for robotics to improve, and they are not moving at anywhere near this rate. Where robotics will explode is in situations where an unstructured environment can be made structured. This is happening in warehousing, will happen in agriculture because incentives to do so exist, but many unstructured environments will be difficult to structure.

This is obviously a side discussion and not germane to the original post but one cannot argue that the development of one type of computing hardware is unequal to another type of computing hardware because the software has not yet been developed. The hardware will improve at roughly Moore's timeframe. The software will follow. The basis of the argument, parsing computing power and robotics appears incorrect to me. To make this argument you'll have to show how a computer/laptop/Roomba/etc. is different that this slowly developing robotic entity you imagine.

[santafe2]

Re: Odds of Automating

Thus the cause is underlined.

And those assets are legislatively created.

See the problem with the productivity will doom us scenario , besides never having been observed, is if X is dirt cheap from automation the level of subsistence falls, which means people drop out of the labor market for one and demand for new products rises for another.

Thanks. I don't think we can resolve our disagreement but I appreciate your response. I think most people drop out of the labor market and realize they no longer matter. And I think that assessment of their situation is correct. Product demand may indeed rise but demand for human labor is declining. To be more blunt, I think the demand for humans paid to work is declining.

[Polish_Silver]

Crappy list

For those who have no intention of reading the paper, here's a list of jobs most likely to go the way of the milkman. The least likely group is also interesting as many require direct interaction with other humans. The top 1% is almost exclusively in this area of work. Like #4...Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers. That sounds like a growth area.

532. 0.9 1 43-4161 Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping
533. 0.9 29-2011 Medical and Clinical Laboratory Technologists
534. 0.9 47-2171 Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers
535. 0.9 47-2181 Roofers
536. 0.9 53-7021 Crane and Tower Operators
537. 0.9 53-6041 Traffic Technicians
538. 0.9 53-6051 Transportation Inspectors
539. 0.9 51-4062 Patternmakers, Metal and Plastic
540. 0.9 51-9195 Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
541. 0.9 13-2021 Appraisers and Assessors of Real Estate
542. 0.9 53-7072 Pump Operators, Except Wellhead Pumpers
543. 0.9 49-9097 Signal and Track Switch Repairers
544. 0.91 39-3012 Gaming and Sports Book Writers and Runners
545. 0.91 49-9063 Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
546. 0.91 39-7011 Tour Guides and Escorts
547. 0.91 49-9011 Mechanical Door Repairers
548. 0.91 51-3091 Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders
549. 0.91 53-7071 Gas Compressor and Gas Pumping Station Operators
550. 0.91 29-2071 Medical Records and Health Information Technicians
551. 0.91 51-9121 Coating, Painting, and Spraying Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
552. 0.91 51-4081 Multiple Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders,Metal and Plastic
553. 0.91 53-4013 Rail Yard Engineers, Dinkey Operators, and Hostlers
554. 0.91 49-2093 Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment
555. 0.91 35-9011 Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
556. 0.91 51-4191 Heat Treating Equipment Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
557. 0.91 19-4041 Geological and Petroleum Technicians
558. 0.91 49-3021 Automotive Body and Related Repairers
559. 0.91 51-7032 Patternmakers, Wood
560. 0.91 51-4021 Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders,Metal and Plastic
561. 0.92 43-9071 Office Machine Operators, Except Computer
562. 0.92 29-2052 Pharmacy Technicians
563. 0.92 43-4131 Loan Interviewers and Clerks
564. 0.92 53-7031 Dredge Operators
565. 0.92 41-3021 Insurance Sales Agents
566. 0.92 51-7011 Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters
567. 0.92 51-9123 Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
568. 0.92 47-4031 Fence Erectors
569. 0.92 51-4193 Plating and Coating Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
570. 0.92 41-2031 Retail Salespersons
571. 0.92 35-3021 Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food
572. 0.92 51-9399 Production Workers, All Other
573. 0.92 47-3012 Helpers–Carpenters
574. 0.93 51-9193 Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders
575. 0.93 51-2091 Fiberglass Laminators and Fabricators
576. 0.93 47-5013 Service Unit Operators, Oil, Gas, and Mining
577. 0.93 53-7011 Conveyor Operators and Tenders
578. 0.93 49-3053 Outdoor Power Equipment and Other Small Engine Mechanics
579. 0.93 53-4012 Locomotive Firers
580. 0.93 53-7063 Machine Feeders and Offbearers
581. 0.93 51-4061 Model Makers, Metal and Plastic
582. 0.93 49-2021 Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairs
583. 0.93 51-3021 Butchers and Meat Cutters
584. 0.93 51-9041 Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
585. 0.93 53-7081 Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
586. 0.93 1 13-2081 Tax Examiners and Collectors, and Revenue Agents
587. 0.93 51-4022 Forging Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
588. 0.93 1 53-7051 Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
589. 0.94 1 13-2011 Accountants and Auditors
590. 0.94 51-4032 Drilling and Boring Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
591. 0.94 43-9051 Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
592. 0.94 0 35-3031 Waiters and Waitresses
593. 0.94 51-3022 Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
594. 0.94 13-2031 Budget Analysts
595. 0.94 47-2051 Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers
596. 0.94 49-3091 Bicycle Repairers
597. 0.94 49-9091 Coin, Vending, and Amusement Machine Servicers and Repairers
598. 0.94 51-4121 Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers
599. 0.94 1 43-5021 Couriers and Messengers
600. 0.94 43-4111 Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan
601. 0.94 35-2015 Cooks, Short Order
602. 0.94 53-7032 Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators
603. 0.94 47-3014 Helpers–Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons
604. 0.94 43-4081 Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
605. 0.94 51-9197 Tire Builders
606. 0.94 41-9091 Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers
607. 0.94 37-1011 First-Line Supervisors of Housekeeping and Janitorial Workers
608. 0.94 45-2011 Agricultural Inspectors
609. 0.94 1 23-2011 Paralegals and Legal Assistants
610. 0.95 39-5092 Manicurists and Pedicurists
611. 0.95 43-5111 Weighers, Measurers, Checkers, and Samplers, Recordkeeping
612. 0.95 51-6062 Textile Cutting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
613. 0.95 43-3011 Bill and Account Collectors
614. 0.95 51-8011 Nuclear Power Reactor Operators
615. 0.95 33-9031 Gaming Surveillance Officers and Gaming Investigators
616. 0.95 43-4121 Library Assistants, Clerical
617. 0.95 47-2073 Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators
618. 0.95 51-5113 Print Binding and Finishing Workers
619. 0.95 45-2021 Animal Breeders
620. 0.95 51-4072 Molding, Coremaking, and Casting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
621. 0.95 1 51-2022 Electrical and Electronic Equipment Assemblers
622. 0.95 51-9191 Adhesive Bonding Machine Operators and Tenders
623. 0.95 37-3011 Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
624. 0.95 51-4033 Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and Buffing Machine Tool Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
625. 0.95 43-5051 Postal Service Clerks
626. 0.95 51-9071 Jewelers and Precious Stone and Metal Workers
627. 0.96 43-5032 Dispatchers, Except Police, Fire, and Ambulance
628. 0.96 43-4171 Receptionists and Information Clerks
629. 0.96 43-9061 Office Clerks, General
630. 0.96 11-3111 Compensation and Benefits Managers
631. 0.96 1 43-2011 Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
632. 0.96 35-3022 Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop
633. 0.96 47-5051 Rock Splitters, Quarry
634. 0.96 43-6014 Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
635. 0.96 17-3031 Surveying and Mapping Technicians
636. 0.96 51-7031 Model Makers, Wood
637. 0.96 51-6064 Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
638. 0.96 53-4011 Locomotive Engineers
639. 0.96 1 39-3011 Gaming Dealers
640. 0.96 49-9093 Fabric Menders, Except Garment
641. 0.96 35-2014 Cooks, Restaurant
642. 0.96 39-3031 Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers
643. 0.96 43-3021 Billing and Posting Clerks
644. 0.97 53-6011 Bridge and Lock Tenders
645. 0.97 51-7042 Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
646. 0.97 51-2092 Team Assemblers
647. 0.97 51-6042 Shoe Machine Operators and Tenders
648. 0.97 51-2023 Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers
649. 0.97 1 13-1074 Farm Labor Contractors
650. 0.97 51-6061 Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders
651. 0.97 51-9081 Dental Laboratory Technicians
652. 0.97 51-9021 Crushing, Grinding, and Polishing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
653. 0.97 51-9022 Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
654. 0.97 37-3012 Pesticide Handlers, Sprayers, and Applicators, Vegetation
655. 0.97 45-4023 Log Graders and Scalers
656. 0.97 51-9083 Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians
657. 0.97 1 41-2011 Cashiers
658. 0.97 49-9061 Camera and Photographic Equipment Repairers
659. 0.97 39-3021 Motion Picture Projectionists
660. 0.97 51-5111 Prepress Technicians and Workers
661. 0.97 41-2021 Counter and Rental Clerks
662. 0.97 1 43-4071 File Clerks
663. 0.97 41-9021 Real Estate Brokers
664. 0.97 43-2021 Telephone Operators
665. 0.97 19-4011 Agricultural and Food Science Technicians
666. 0.97 43-3051 Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks
667. 0.97 1 43-4041 Credit Authorizers, Checkers, and Clerks
668. 0.97 35-9031 Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
669. 0.98 41-9012 Models
670. 0.98 51-9061 Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
671. 0.98 43-3031 Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks
672. 0.98 43-6012 Legal Secretaries
673. 0.98 27-4013 Radio Operators
674. 0.98 53-3031 Driver/Sales Workers
675. 0.98 1 13-1031 Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators
676. 0.98 41-2022 Parts Salespersons
677. 0.98 1 13-2041 Credit Analysts
678. 0.98 51-4035 Milling and Planning Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic
679. 0.98 43-5071 Shipping, Receiving, and Traffic Clerks
680. 0.98 43-3061 Procurement Clerks
681. 0.98 51-9111 Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders
682. 0.98 51-9194 Etchers and Engravers
683. 0.98 43-3071 Tellers
684. 0.98 27-2023 Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials
685. 0.98 13-1032 Insurance Appraisers, Auto Damage
686. 0.98 1 13-2072 Loan Officers
687. 0.98 43-4151 Order Clerks
688. 0.98 43-4011 Brokerage Clerks
689. 0.98 43-9041 Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks
690. 0.98 51-2093 Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters
691. 0.99 1 43-9021 Data Entry Keyers
692. 0.99 25-4031 Library Technicians
693. 0.99 43-4141 New Accounts Clerks
694. 0.99 51-9151 Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
695. 0.99 13-2082 Tax Preparers
696. 0.99 43-5011 Cargo and Freight Agents
697. 0.99 49-9064 Watch Repairers
698. 0.99 1 13-2053 Insurance Underwriters
699. 0.99 15-2091 Mathematical Technicians
700. 0.99 51-6051 Sewers, Hand
701. 0.99 23-2093 Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
702. 0.99 41-9041 Telemarketers

Order clerks, watch repairers, mathematical technicians, and office machine operators have already been reduced by automation.

This list could be 30 years old.

As for tax preparers, we have more tax accountants than public safety officers. So good riddance. (But they are not going away, because the tax code gets ever more complex, and turbo tax can't do the hard stuff)

As for roofers and crane operators, I can see problems with robots doing that.
If it were easy, they would already be automated. In a "human free" environment
that might work. Otherwise, you are getting a load of bricks dumped on you.

[Polish_Silver]

Technology vs employment

Robots are a form of capital, and I hardly consider them the main cause. In fact robots cause huge demands in skilled labor meaning a middle class is a given. It must be designed, manufactured , distributed and marketed. Robots will open up opportunities not possible before in much the same way the Internet killed the Post Office. Do we have fewer jobs because of the Net? Japan for example is well ahead of the US in robots, and their gap is much smaller than ours.

200 years ago there was vastly less technology. Most people were employed. Today most people are employed. So the effect of technology on total employment is neutral.

Technology changes greatly the nature of jobs available, and the manner in which resources are used, or not.

So Technology can make a person's skills less or more valuable, or unemploy him completely.

However, it is necessary to advance technology for a number of reasons, including resource depletion, ever higher population, etc.

[gwynedd1]

Re: Odds of Automating

Thanks. I don't think we can resolve our disagreement but I appreciate your response. I think most people drop out of the labor market and realize they no longer matter. And I think that assessment of their situation is correct. Product demand may indeed rise but demand for human labor is declining. To be more blunt, I think the demand for humans paid to work is declining.

Let me leave you with a complete one.

Its very difficult to logically determine the capital/labor relationship which is a steep regression. While capital often removes the need for humans, it drives down the need for them to seek work. The surplus often then just leaves more available to be disposed elsewhere. Another function of capital is that it goes obsolete, meaning what ever class of people held sway will lose it. Consider the extreme end where people have need of nothing. There would be no jobs. It would be a leisure paradise. It is scarcity , not abundance that drives an economy. So if robots could build a house for a stick of bubble gum and could grow all our crops for nothing, a small favor of 5 minutes would pay for it all.

That scarcity ultimately will be found in things that have value but are not products of human labor. That is essentially what is behind the FIRE sector model. Now if you think robotics is the problem, then certainly cast aside the FIRE sector model because they are not compatible.

So the issue is that scarcity will be imposed on those who do not have the FIRE sector assets of real estate and money. Certainly the only why out of that dilemma is labor as a temporary means to subsist. Certainly a robot could make one's labor obsolete. However that is really of little consequence unless that is they have no place to go.
Marx failed , as economists so often do , in his predictions. His observations can be trusted.


See the problem of colonial abundance:

We have seen that the expropriation of the mass of the people from the soil forms the basis of the capitalist mode of production. The essence of a free colony, on the contrary, consists in this — that the bulk of the soil is still public property, and every settler on it therefore can turn part of it into his private property and individual means of production, without hindering the later settlers in the same operation.^[10] This is the secret both of the prosperity of the colonies and of their inveterate vice — opposition to the establishment of capital. “Where land is very cheap and all men are free, where every one who so pleases can easily obtain a piece of land for himself, not only is labour very dear, as respects the labourer’s share of the produce, but the difficulty is to obtain combined labour at any price.” ^[11]As in the colonies the separation of the labourer from the conditions of labour and their root, the soil, does not exist, or only sporadically, or on too limited a scale, so neither does the separation of agriculture from industry exist, nor the destruction of the household industry of the peasantry. Whence then is to come the internal market for capital? “No part of the population of America is exclusively agricultural, excepting slaves and their employers who combine capital and labour in particular works. Free Americans, who cultivate the soil, follow many other occupations. Some portion of the furniture and tools which they use is commonly made by themselves. They frequently build their own houses, and carry to market, at whatever distance, the produce of their own industry. They are spinners and weavers; they make soap and candles, as well as, in many cases, shoes and clothes for their own use. In America the cultivation of land is often the secondary pursuit of a blacksmith, a miller or a shopkeeper.” ^[12] With such queer people as these, where is the “field of abstinence” for the capitalists?
-MarxThus the source of the problem must be scarcity, not abundance.

Put a few of the vast army of unemployed on an island cut off from all the advantages of a civilized community, without the cooperation and machinery that multiply productivity. Using only their own hands, they can feed themselves — but where productive power is at its highest, they cannot. Is this not because they have access to nature in one case, but are denied it in the other? The only thing that can explain why people are forced to stand idle when they would willingly work to supply their wants is that labor is denied access to land.

-Henry George

Always raise an eyebrow when two economists who had little use for each other agree, especially when they can even be shown to agree with Adam Smith.

The rent of land, it may be thought, is frequently no more than a reasonable profit or interest for the stock laid out by the landlord upon its improvement. This, no doubt, may be partly the case upon some occasions; for it can scarce ever be more than partly the case. The landlord demands a rent even for unimproved land, and the supposed interest or profit upon the expence of improvement is generally an addition to this original rent. Those improvements, besides, are not always made by the stock of the landlord, but sometimes by that of the tenant. When the lease comes to be renewed, however, the landlord commonly demands the same augmentation of rent, as if they had been all made by his own.I.11.3

He sometimes demands rent for what is altogether incapable of human improvement. Kelp is a species of sea-weed, which, when burnt, yields an alkaline salt, useful for making glass, soap, and for several other purposes. It grows in several parts of Great Britain, particularly in Scotland, upon such rocks only as lie within the high water mark, which are twice every day covered with the sea, and of which the produce, therefore, was never augmented by human industry. The landlord, however, whose estate is bounded by a kelp shore of this kind, demands a rent for it as much as for his corn fields.

-Adam Smith


All three seem to indicate the problem of rent and scarcity, and yet not a single economist today has a thing to say about it, and they ramble on about the abundance of robots destroying us? Why not first solve the problem of the train wreck of an economic model we have as if things of value are all capital? My models divide them into many classes:

Financial assets ( zero aggregate values dependent on relationships)
natural resources ( coal , oil, minerals)
space ( center of the city, domain names, band width, proximity)
products of human labor ( bridges, buildings , gasoline)

The characteristic of what falls under capital is so alien from another is it any wonder why simple models of the false dichotomy of labor and capital are a joke? One form stores value like land. Technology is a miserable form of storing value. Another form's increase or decrease can become comical ( They compute paying down debt a aggregate savings?). Another like oil can take the form of rent or return on capital in a very dynamic way. This can be define under Ricardo's description of rent under the corn laws. Corn on worthless land is a return on capital. The surplus of more fertile land is a rent. Same thing with easy oil vs deep sea oil.

I live in an economic dark age, simple as that.

[jpatter666]

Re: Odds of Automating

You have given me a theory with no empirical evidence, thus I consider the subject matter to be fictional. It is up to me to spend my time wisely.

Fair enough. It was indeed my opinion based upon what I'm seeing around me -- I don't have the time nor am I qualified to write a research paper on it.

[jpatter666]

Re: Odds of Automating

This is obviously a side discussion and not germane to the original post but one cannot argue that the development of one type of computing hardware is unequal to another type of computing hardware because the software has not yet been developed. The hardware will improve at roughly Moore's timeframe. The software will follow. The basis of the argument, parsing computing power and robotics appears incorrect to me. To make this argument you'll have to show how a computer/laptop/Roomba/etc. is different that this slowly developing robotic entity you imagine.

Don't know for sure, but I do keep one eye on the robotics world and being in the computer industry I hear lots of shop talk. As an example, look at the XBox One Kinect -- far superior vision, supposed to be able to read your pulse (not confirmed, that one). Robots able to walk and gait over any terrain. I remember robotics in the 80s, 90s and 00s and sure looks like some damn serious progress to me.

Basically, I'm watching the progress curve -- looks like it's begun the liftoff phase to me.

But to return to the initial point -- IF this is true and robotics is entering a "golden age" what would that imply for many industries.

As has been the case for many service/labor employees already -- nothing good.

[jpatter666]

Re: Technology vs employment

200 years ago there was vastly less technology. Most people were employed. Today most people are employed. So the effect of technology on total employment is neutral.

Technology changes greatly the nature of jobs available, and the manner in which resources are used, or not.

So Technology can make a person's skills less or more valuable, or unemploy him completely.

However, it is necessary to advance technology for a number of reasons, including resource depletion, ever higher population, etc.

Over the long-term, completely agree. But there will be (potentially serious) short-term bumps while those adjustments are being made.

[santafe2]

Re: Odds of Automating

...All three seem to indicate the problem of rent and scarcity, and yet not a single economist today has a thing to say about it, and they ramble on about the abundance of robots destroying us? Why not first solve the problem of the train wreck of an economic model we have as if things of value are all capital? My models divide them into many classes:

Financial assets ( zero aggregate values dependent on relationships)
natural resources ( coal , oil, minerals)
space ( center of the city, domain names, band width, proximity)
products of human labor ( bridges, buildings , gasoline)

The characteristic of what falls under capital is so alien from another is it any wonder why simple models of the false dichotomy of labor and capital are a joke? One form stores value like land. Technology is a miserable form of storing value. Another form's increase or decrease can become comical ( They compute paying down debt a aggregate savings?). Another like oil can take the form of rent or return on capital in a very dynamic way. This can be define under Ricardo's description of rent under the corn laws. Corn on worthless land is a return on capital. The surplus of more fertile land is a rent. Same thing with easy oil vs deep sea oil.

I live in an economic dark age, simple as that.

Thanks for taking the time to post this. It appears from your post that you think undoing the FIRE economy and normalizing the distribution of capital will fix the current human condition. I understand I just put words in your mouth that may be entirely incorrect so feel free to correct me but if that is a correct assessment of your position, this is a key point of disagreement. I think the great majority of humanity is screwed and I don't think robotics will create abundance. This technology, computing power, bandwidth, etc. will be used for control. The utter abuse of the commons, Hardin called it the tragedy of the commons, will be the undoing of humanity. I think the canary in the coal mine is the American middle class. This is a dying entity. The earth does not contain the resources to support 10B humans in 50 years, less than one lifetime. My kids and theirs will have to live in this place. The folks that run FIRE get this. They're hording resources to survive and have no intention of giving it back. FIRE is not the problem, it is the evil solution to the problem. This is not the 18th Century. There is no abundance available for anyone not in the top 1%. Robotics will not create abundance, it will make control much easier.

You appear to be more hopeful than I. While I don't think so, I hope you're right.

[santafe2]

Re: Odds of Automating

...But to return to the initial point -- IF this is true and robotics is entering a "golden age" what would that imply for many industries.

As has been the case for many service/labor employees already -- nothing good.

I agree. Robotics is just beginning to matter. As I think Bill Joy pointed out 10+ years ago, computing hardware will reach human brain capacity about 2020. It will take software a decade or so to catch up but when it does, the world will be a very different place and the average human may have little to no value in the economy. Since the West has moved our labor force to China, we'll see the average Chinese laborer get screwed first. What happens in China will likely spread to India next. I'll be very surprised if we have to wait more than a decade to begin understanding the trend. I'm just Mr. Happy tonight...does anyone really believe this ends well?

[vt]

Re: Airline agents and other clerks

Google buys the galloping robot.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/14/google-just-bought-the-company-behind-this-creepy-galloping-robot/

[BadJuju]

Re: Odds of Automating

I'm just Mr. Happy tonight...does anyone really believe this ends well?

Cylons and Terminators, oh my!

[santafe2]

Re: Odds of Automating

Cylons and Terminators, oh my!

I was thinking of things like endless war where you don't need conscription because the economy is so bad people will volunteer to fight these wars. Or, a US where incarceration rates move up 500% over 30 years...oops, we're already here. Maybe you're right...

[vt]

Re: Odds of Automating

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ec7ee...#axzz2naprbR1A