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I guess my biggest concern with this is tied up in this potential dystopian future where prostitution is basically the only unskilled job humans can do better t

I guess my biggest concern with this is tied up in this potential dystopian future where prostitution is basically the only unskilled job humans can do better than machines. How do we prevent people from being forced into this out of economic desperation?

maaku 10y ago
You really think we won't be able to build a better sex bot?
- hkmurakami 10y ago
  Japan's on the case. ;)
mozumder 10y ago
You don't. It'll be a job like any other. "How do we prevent people from being forced into electrical engineering to get out of their economic desperation?"
- Zikes 10y ago
  It seems to be like people are being forced into STEM out of economic desperation lately, but the sentiment seems more like "how do we force more people into STEM".
  - waterhouse 10y ago
    A question that comes to mind: How cheap is it for companies that hire STEM workers to add their voice to the general "Bring more people into STEM" thing, potentially increasing the supply of STEM workers and decreasing the cost/difficulty of hiring STEM workers of a given skill; and how does that compare to the cost of offering a higher wage?
bravo22 10y ago
> How do we prevent people from being forced into this out of economic desperation? Answer: Prevent economic desperation. In this dystopian future if prostitution is illegal and the law is heavily enforced then desperate people will find other ways to make ends meet which will surely be more harmful to society.
- stcredzero 10y ago
  What kind of ideology advocates for the necessity of economic desperation? Some people seem to think that we actually need it for society to function. I'm not sure we've amassed the kind of empirical knowledge to say for sure one way or another.
  - nly 10y ago
    Fear of being at the bottom drives the able upward.
    - stcredzero 10y ago
      Yes, but does the bottom have to be dehumanizing for this to happen?
justinlardinois 10y ago
I see more or less this same question on every Hacker News thread about automation: "How will humans stay employed when machines can do everything better and cheaper?" And the answer I most often see is to have a universal basic income, which makes sense to me. The main argument against basic income in the United States is that it discourages people from working. I think that's probably true, and in this country we see work as a virtue and an obligation. But I don't think the only thing we should seek from automation is to increase profits for business owners; we should also see it as improving human life in general by making work less necessary. And if work isn't necessary, shouldn't we provide a replacement for income that workers lose out on by the decreased availability of employment? I guess that's not the only solution to the problem. I could also see the government taxing automated labor to artificially inflate its cost and thus encourage businesses to employ humans. I don't think it's as good of a solution, but it would solve the problem too.

maaku 10y ago

You really think we won't be able to build a better sex bot?

hkmurakami 10y ago
Japan's on the case. ;)

mozumder 10y ago

You don't. It'll be a job like any other. "How do we prevent people from being forced into electrical engineering to get out of their economic desperation?"

Zikes 10y ago
It seems to be like people are being forced into STEM out of economic desperation lately, but the sentiment seems more like "how do we force more people into STEM".
- waterhouse 10y ago
  A question that comes to mind: How cheap is it for companies that hire STEM workers to add their voice to the general "Bring more people into STEM" thing, potentially increasing the supply of STEM workers and decreasing the cost/difficulty of hiring STEM workers of a given skill; and how does that compare to the cost of offering a higher wage?

bravo22 10y ago

> How do we prevent people from being forced into this out of economic desperation? Answer: Prevent economic desperation. In this dystopian future if prostitution is illegal and the law is heavily enforced then desperate people will find other ways to make ends meet which will surely be more harmful to society.

stcredzero 10y ago
What kind of ideology advocates for the necessity of economic desperation? Some people seem to think that we actually need it for society to function. I'm not sure we've amassed the kind of empirical knowledge to say for sure one way or another.
- nly 10y ago
  Fear of being at the bottom drives the able upward.
  - stcredzero 10y ago
    Yes, but does the bottom have to be dehumanizing for this to happen?

justinlardinois 10y ago

I see more or less this same question on every Hacker News thread about automation: "How will humans stay employed when machines can do everything better and cheaper?" And the answer I most often see is to have a universal basic income, which makes sense to me. The main argument against basic income in the United States is that it discourages people from working. I think that's probably true, and in this country we see work as a virtue and an obligation. But I don't think the only thing we should seek from automation is to increase profits for business owners; we should also see it as improving human life in general by making work less necessary. And if work isn't necessary, shouldn't we provide a replacement for income that workers lose out on by the decreased availability of employment? I guess that's not the only solution to the problem. I could also see the government taxing automated labor to artificially inflate its cost and thus encourage businesses to employ humans. I don't think it's as good of a solution, but it would solve the problem too.