3 ms·
Will we see a dramatic increase in the formation of unions as a defensive response? Most likely. I'm struggling to follow how a union could help this situation
by riggins 13y ago
Will we see a dramatic increase in the formation of unions as a defensive response? Most likely.
I'm struggling to follow how a union could help this situation. What would happen? Workers would go on strike if their firms use robots? Seems like that would just push the owner to accelerate robot orders. My guess is that unions are pretty useless in the face of automation. Does anyone know any precedents?
I agree in spirit though. What I think is likely is the rise of populism. I think the battle will have to be waged in the political arena.
- adventured 13y agoNot suggesting it would help, but rather that it's the expected response from labor. Organized labor means far greater political influence. Robots don't vote, yet. That greater political influence will be necessary to restrict robotics / slow down the process of innovation and productivity gains (and labor job destruction).
- zzen 13y agoI think we all know the precedent: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite And yeah, if it gets really bad, violent protest is just a more extreme continuation of unions.