5 ms·
Rather than replacing human workers via direct automation, the Internet has allowed workers in low-wage nations to do much of the work that used to be done loca
by tabtab 8y ago
Rather than replacing human workers via direct automation, the Internet has allowed workers in low-wage nations to do much of the work that used to be done locally. Telephone support is a common example.
Even if a bot can't cook burgers correctly, a worker being paid 50-cents an hour in Timbuktu may be cooking burgers via remote-control. At a fast-food restaurant, there may be one human overseer monitoring several remote-controlled bots. I suspect that will happen before direct AI burgers. (It might even be a combo of AI and RC worker to speed response.)
In general it seems pretty clear that the owners of technology are growing ever rich while the rest are stagnating. GDP is growing, but it's not trickling down much since the 1980's. Nobody is sure, but technology appears to be the main "culprit". We may have to adjust our economic systems to avoid log-jamming the fruits of automation at the top.
- slededit 8y agoIP is the new "means of production". Nobody wants to sell you a tractor outright anymore. They want you to buy the expensive to maintain hardware while they own the IP that makes it work. This ensures they can keep getting a recurring slice of the revenue you create with that machine - without the maintenance and other costs associated with a rental business.
- Animats 8y agoKitchen robots still haven't happened much. Except for computer-controlled woks.[1] Those are big in China. This seemed closer in 1960.[2] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJUMAWL3LXg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJUMAWL3LXg [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xop9py8zBY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xop9py8zBY
- toast0 8y agoConveyor ovens toast a lot of bread, cook a lot of burgers, and bake a lot of pizza. It's not sexy, but it's automation and it reduces the labor needed.
- mdo123 8y agoApparently the bots can cook burgers better: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinatroitino/2018/06/21/meet-the-worlds-first-fully-automated-burger-robot-creator-debuts-the-big-mac-killer/#444e6cf46a89 https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinatroitino/2018/06/21/me...