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It's a lovely idea. But in history's many examples of labor being replaced by technology, none of them have ended up with former workers owning the new means of

by tlb 10y ago

It's a lovely idea. But in history's many examples of labor being replaced by technology, none of them have ended up with former workers owning the new means of production. Forces against individual ownership include: - capital is cheaper for companies than individuals - companies can use technology more efficiently than individuals - companies have longer planning horizons than individuals Perhaps the outcome with robots would be different. But I haven't seen a convincing explanation why this might happen.

CyberFonic 10y ago
Physical labor can be replaced with robots. But intellectual and creative labour won't be for a long time - AI notwithstanding. Even the simplest tangible product requires considerable manufacturing capacity and capital investment. That is why startups are more likely to focus on yet another app or website. So many KickStarter product projects fail to come to fruition. Even Nest, DropCam and Revolv are faltering - in spite of Google's technological and financial prowess.
- coroutines 10y ago
  I think part of this future robot company would be making robots that understand what they're being trained for. Like, you can make the robot mimic your movements of screwing on a lid to a jar on a production line - but you also need to make it understand that the lid needs to be reasonably tight on there. It can't just perform the motion of the task without knowing what the objective is. The company making the robots would become competitive by saying "look how easy it is to program our robots compared to x-competitor!" This is how I see a way to transition into that all-automated future.
coroutines 10y ago
I definitely agree that corporations would not want to put power in the hands of the workers. However, I think a fleet of robots would be expensive for most companies - and the robot-making company might make far more money offering robots to individuals?
- sharemywin 10y ago
  But most companies main objectives are the opposite. They invest X$ upfront so they can save $y/yr. Here's an example with an HVAC system but it's basically the same analysis. http://www.csemag.com/single-article/economic-analysis-in-individual-project-selection/1e5f841e902fbc1a9a846a917c03a188.html http://www.csemag.com/single-article/economic-analysis-in-in...

by tlb 10y ago

CyberFonic 10y ago

Physical labor can be replaced with robots. But intellectual and creative labour won't be for a long time - AI notwithstanding. Even the simplest tangible product requires considerable manufacturing capacity and capital investment. That is why startups are more likely to focus on yet another app or website. So many KickStarter product projects fail to come to fruition. Even Nest, DropCam and Revolv are faltering - in spite of Google's technological and financial prowess.

coroutines 10y ago
I think part of this future robot company would be making robots that understand what they're being trained for. Like, you can make the robot mimic your movements of screwing on a lid to a jar on a production line - but you also need to make it understand that the lid needs to be reasonably tight on there. It can't just perform the motion of the task without knowing what the objective is. The company making the robots would become competitive by saying "look how easy it is to program our robots compared to x-competitor!" This is how I see a way to transition into that all-automated future.

coroutines 10y ago

I definitely agree that corporations would not want to put power in the hands of the workers. However, I think a fleet of robots would be expensive for most companies - and the robot-making company might make far more money offering robots to individuals?

sharemywin 10y ago
But most companies main objectives are the opposite. They invest X$ upfront so they can save $y/yr. Here's an example with an HVAC system but it's basically the same analysis. http://www.csemag.com/single-article/economic-analysis-in-individual-project-selection/1e5f841e902fbc1a9a846a917c03a188.html http://www.csemag.com/single-article/economic-analysis-in-in...