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I'm concerned for the future of human work. I'm not. Afterall, somebody has to build the robots. It just means those welders will need to move on to more gainf

by thematt 15y ago

I'm concerned for the future of human work. I'm not. Afterall, somebody has to build the robots. It just means those welders will need to move on to more gainful employment. It will be painful in the short-term perhaps, but I liken it to the situation with farming. A couple hundred years ago people spent most of their time just trying to feed themselves, but then we slowly automated a lot of that and people moved on to more productive means of employment. The current situation will only be tough for the people not willing to embrace change.

Jach 15y ago
> It just means those welders will need to move on to more gainful employment. Easier said than done. Not everyone can be a programmer, and robots can easily build other robots. There will be some room left for human work, but there won't be enough to cover 300 million people. The social danger I see is an incredibly high portion of the work force out of work and out of money (with no government support structure), if people become desperate for their basic survival needs that they're used to now things can get very ugly. And if we expand the term 'robot' to include simulated human minds, we get into a worse position with "normal human" jobs. http://hanson.gmu.edu/IEEESpectrum-6-08.pdf http://hanson.gmu.edu/IEEESpectrum-6-08.pdf "Would robots be slaves? Laws could conceivably ban robots or only allow robots “born” with enough wealth to afford a life of leisure. But without global and draconian enforcement of such laws, the vast wealth that cheap robots offer would quickly induce a sprawling, unruly black market. Realistically, since modest enforcement could maintain only modest restrictions, huge numbers of cheap (and thus poor) robots would probably exist; only their legal status would be in question. Depending on local politics, cheap robots could be “undocumented” illegals, legal slaves of their creators or owners, “free” minds renting their bodies and services and subject to “eviction” for nonpayment, or free minds saddled with debts and subject to “repossession” for nonpayment. The following conclusions do not much depend on which of these cases is more common."
firefoxman1 15y ago
And of course, those robots will need to be repaired which means jobs for welders,electricians and machinists

by thematt 15y ago

Jach 15y ago

> It just means those welders will need to move on to more gainful employment. Easier said than done. Not everyone can be a programmer, and robots can easily build other robots. There will be some room left for human work, but there won't be enough to cover 300 million people. The social danger I see is an incredibly high portion of the work force out of work and out of money (with no government support structure), if people become desperate for their basic survival needs that they're used to now things can get very ugly. And if we expand the term 'robot' to include simulated human minds, we get into a worse position with "normal human" jobs. http://hanson.gmu.edu/IEEESpectrum-6-08.pdf http://hanson.gmu.edu/IEEESpectrum-6-08.pdf "Would robots be slaves? Laws could conceivably ban robots or only allow robots “born” with enough wealth to afford a life of leisure. But without global and draconian enforcement of such laws, the vast wealth that cheap robots offer would quickly induce a sprawling, unruly black market. Realistically, since modest enforcement could maintain only modest restrictions, huge numbers of cheap (and thus poor) robots would probably exist; only their legal status would be in question. Depending on local politics, cheap robots could be “undocumented” illegals, legal slaves of their creators or owners, “free” minds renting their bodies and services and subject to “eviction” for nonpayment, or free minds saddled with debts and subject to “repossession” for nonpayment. The following conclusions do not much depend on which of these cases is more common."

firefoxman1 15y ago

And of course, those robots will need to be repaired which means jobs for welders,electricians and machinists