What would happen in a society where human labor is replaced by machines?

[Red Squirrel]

It will never happen in corporations any more than the 'paperless office' has happened because of one factor. If you eliminate everyone but the board of execs, you will have forced accountability. Something that no corporation on the face of the globe could withstand.

True, they could still hire a few people here and there, but they'd basically be monitoring the machines for minimum wage, and be the ones held accountable when stuff breaks.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

True, they could still hire a few people here and there, but they'd basically be monitoring the machines for minimum wage, and be the ones held accountable when stuff breaks.

Corporations stay on top NOT by offering the best products but, by raising the bar of entry so high as to keep out almost all competition. Sadly, it's no longer what you do with your capital, it's what you keep the competition from doing with theirs.

 

[SKORPI0]

A World Without Work

The paradox of work is that many people hate their jobs, but they are considerably more miserable doing nothing.

The most common jobs are salesperson, cashier, food and beverage server, and office clerk. Each is highly susceptible to automation.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

A World Without Work

The paradox of work is that many people hate their jobs, but they are considerably more miserable doing nothing.

The most common jobs are salesperson, cashier, food and beverage server, and office clerk. Each is highly susceptible to automation.

That would be incorrect. Would you rather be served by a person or, a robot? If you claim robot, you're better off staying in your basement. Just because something can be automated does not make it the best solution. If there is a mixture of companies offering the same products with some customers being served by automation and some being served by people, you will quickly see the majority of customers flocking to the human staffed companies. There is the factor of price of course. If automation was significantly cheaper in terms of final product cost, automation would be on a more even footing. However, do you REALLY envision a food service corporation investing heavily in automation and NOT passing the cost onto customers?

 

[glenn1]

I've always wondered what it will be like when robots do everything. They build new robots, farm, maintain property, build everything. What will we all do and what will be the point or money if there is even a need for such a thing and how would you earn money when there is no work to be done?

Friends of mine don't believe there will ever be a day without having to work. I disagree.

The answer to what comes after money is Whuffie.

 

[skull]

That would be incorrect. Would you rather be served by a person or, a robot? If you claim robot, you're better off staying in your basement. Just because something can be automated does not make it the best solution. If there is a mixture of companies offering the same products with some customers being served by automation and some being served by people, you will quickly see the majority of customers flocking to the human staffed companies. There is the factor of price of course. If automation was significantly cheaper in terms of final product cost, automation would be on a more even footing. However, do you REALLY envision a food service corporation investing heavily in automation and NOT passing the cost onto customers?

Have you been to a fast food place lately? I guarantee robots will be faster, cleaner and nicer.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Have you been to a fast food place lately? I guarantee robots will be faster, cleaner and nicer.

I don't frequent fast food places but, you might want to ask yourself why the large fast food chains have been quietly buying up every company that even looks like it might have a viable business plan for automated fast food for the last 30 years and then sitting on it.

 

[balloonshark]

How abut a Resource Based Economy? Some of it makes perfect sense but changing the way we think, work and prying money and power from the rich are huge obstacles.

 

[Imp]

How abut a Resource Based Economy? Some of it makes perfect sense but changing the way we think, work and prying money and power from the rich are huge obstacles.

Do you mean like natural resources?

If so, see how Canada and Alberta are doing.

 

[nexus5rocks]

Aren't we seeing this now? Wait for another 5 years when cars and trucks are automated. What does all of this mean for the average American? It means less jobs, and less wealth. The tech industry is moving at a very fast clip and their goal is to automate everything as much as possible. Look at Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon for example. They are at the forefront for automation.

Look at it now. You can do almost anything now, without leaving your house. Buying items, banking, info, are all at our fingerprints. I got into an argument with a guy in his 60s. He asked me if I wanted a newspaper. I looked at him and said "Why? When I can pull the news up on my smartphone." He got mad and told me that I'm going to bankrupt the newspaper. To him, technology is big, bad, and scary. Maybe he does have a point. In the future, the mailman is going to be extinct. Just like going shopping and banking. I'm not going to need their service as much anymore, and I have a feeling most people under 50 feel the same way. The downside is going to be less jobs.

Autonomous vehicles are not going to be mainstream for at least 20 years. The infrastructure will take awhile to build. Old cars will need time to phase out (think about all the circa 1990 or even 1980 cars you see on the road now).

And I believe you meant fingertips.

 

[nexus5rocks]

People still need jobs to earn money to buy the products that the robots are making.

That's part of the dilemma. How will people earn money when they are unemployable? Can financially healthy countries exist where a large majority of their citizens are on welfare?

 

[nexus5rocks]

I don't frequent fast food places but, you might want to ask yourself why the large fast food chains have been quietly buying up every company that even looks like it might have a viable business plan for automated fast food for the last 30 years and then sitting on it.

Why would they do that? Isn't it in their interest to drive down the cost of business by replacing unreliable humans with automation?

 

[gorcorps]

We're pretty much getting there. Lots of labor has already been automated, whether it's skilled or unskilled. So the jobs are going to be in developing new machines, programming, maintenance, etc...

 

[MrPickins]

We're pretty much getting there. Lots of labor has already been automated, whether it's skilled or unskilled. So the jobs are going to be in developing new machines, programming, maintenance, etc...

"And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_War_of_Lisa_Simpson

Seriously though, there are a lot of jobs that will never be replaced by machines. The blue collar fields are most affected, though.

 

[Mai72]

Autonomous vehicles are not going to be mainstream for at least 20 years. The infrastructure will take awhile to build. Old cars will need time to phase out (think about all the circa 1990 or even 1980 cars you see on the road now).

And I believe you meant fingertips.

Yea. Thanks for catching that mistake.

 

[Jeff7]

"And as you go forth today remember always your duty is clear: To build and maintain those robots."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_War_of_Lisa_Simpson

Seriously though, there are a lot of jobs that will never be replaced by machines. The blue collar fields are most affected, though.

Which ones though?
Prostitutes, maybe? Some of those jobs can be replaced, but I'm sure there'll always be a market for the human touch.
Up until they make "suitable" androids for the job.


Once we've got computer systems that can truly learn things on their own, and recognize patterns and use that knowledge, it will be possible to automate a lot of formerly untouchable white-collar jobs.
Even before they reach human-level intelligence, they'll still be close enough to automate away some jobs.

(Then the next big economic impact will come when these learning systems are turned loose on the stock market, and start to analyze and find complex correlations that no human mind could comprehend. )

We're pretty much getting there. Lots of labor has already been automated, whether it's skilled or unskilled. So the jobs are going to be in developing new machines, programming, maintenance, etc...

Yes, this.

Watch "How It's Made," at least the episodes that show factories. (There are still various episodes showing one or two people hand-crafting items. I tend to skip those myself. )
These places can churn out enormous quantities of product every day. The data analysis necessary to make some of these processes very efficient would also have required, instead of a high-end server system, a few thousand people analyzing the information to get the same result. The world's total count of computers alone represent an incredible leap in productivity for the planet.

I work in a manufacturing environment, and we don't just use automation as a way of keeping labor costs down. It's also used to make a more consistent product with more repeatable quality, and to increase capacity of the production facility. A normal electronic pick'n'place machine can put down around 10,000 components per hour on the large circuitboards made there. It places them reliably, accurately, and in the proper polarity. It takes quite a few people to reach 2-3 components per second of throughput, and then additional people are required for testing and inspection to find parts that were placed incorrectly or backwards.

In terms of speed, some jobs simply can't be sped up. You can't really have 4 people working to place components on a single 4x5" circuitboard at the same time, whereas the machine will be able to finish that same board very quickly on its own. This gives quick turnaround time on very small batch orders, leading to a competitive advantage.

 

[soccerballtux]

people stop engaging in debt contracts for dollars as the dollars have ceased to serve their purpose for those people. Walmart is only as powerful as peoples' willingness to use dollars to buy from them. Therefor, to give the money value, you must give the money to people-- so higher welfare, or maybe basic income.

Otherwise you have a situation where the local farmer (good reason not to enable local farming) figures out there's no point in taking dollars when his community is starving, so he returns to bargaining with his goods for the services of the locals because he cares more for them than his corporate overlords.

And then the IRS gets involved because he's 'avoiding' them and needs to be paying taxes.

 

[soccerballtux]

Wealth inequality of epic proportions or tax rates that make humans cheaper to hire. Since the wealthy have already bought & paid for the govt, mass scale revolt.

no, that's what they're taking away our guns and increasing domestic surveillance for.

 

[soccerballtux]

I don't frequent fast food places but, you might want to ask yourself why the large fast food chains have been quietly buying up every company that even looks like it might have a viable business plan for automated fast food for the last 30 years and then sitting on it.

tell me more. ?

 

[ninaholic37]

That would be incorrect.

Why did you quote the quote? It seems to have nothing to do with your response:

The paradox of work is that many people hate their jobs, but they are considerably more miserable doing nothing.

The most common jobs are salesperson, cashier, food and beverage server, and office clerk. Each is highly susceptible to automation.

 

[soccerballtux]

Why did you quote the quote? It seems to have nothing to do with your response:

I don't go through the u-scan and self-check-out lines at Walmart or Kroger anymore.

 

[ninaholic37]

I don't go through the u-scan and self-check-out lines at Walmart or Kroger anymore.

Same here. Never tried them. How does it know if you just pretend to pay for things then walk away though? Maybe I'll do this when I run out of money :awe:

 

[zCypher]

There will be different types of jobs, that's all. Technology and the companies creating said technology create new jobs that didn't exist before. Things need servicing and repair. People need customer service, technical support, etc. As telecommunications/networking companies and tech evolve and expand, those places need more people too, and it's always a hierarchy ranging from entry level upwards. They always need peasants for something or other.

change is scary! but sometimes you gotta make an effort to evolve with the times.
that's life!

 

[nexus5rocks]

There will be different types of jobs, that's all. Technology and the companies creating said technology create new jobs that didn't exist before. Things need servicing and repair. People need customer service, technical support, etc. As telecommunications/networking companies and tech evolve and expand, those places need more people too, and it's always a hierarchy ranging from entry level upwards. They always need peasants for something or other.

change is scary! but sometimes you gotta make an effort to evolve with the times.
that's life!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU
We are the horses in this analogy. There will be a far lesser need for human labor, just as the need for horses for transportation and hauling freight declined with the proliferation of cars.

As for repair and maintenance, machines will be repairing each other. Think about your HDD. Just as SMART alerts the system of potential disk errors, a robot's internal monitoring systems will alert the "mothership" that it needs to be taken out of rotation for replacing xyz part, performed by another robot.

Yes, not all jobs will be displaced or eliminated, but a large majority of them will.

 

[Kaido]

It has already begun; there is now a vending machine that dispenses hot French fries:

http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/06/theres-now-a-vending-machine-that-dispenses-hot-french-fries/