I used to love robots...

When I was a kid, I was always so inspired by news stories of very intelligent robots and the possibilites they offered for a bright future. But now, as I continue with my college education (dual chemistry/history major- don't ask), all I can think of when I hear about robot bartenders and humanlike A.I.s, is unemployment.

Seriously, it's just depressing, but it makes so much sense. Why would any sane entrepeneur hire workers when he could get an AI to do the work for free? With the power of technology increasing exponentially, year by year, how long will it be before we meatbags become obsolete?

No, I am not a Luddite, and I realize current computers don't hold a candle to the human brain. But I need to look to future, and I can't help but believe I am living on borrowed time.

edited 9th Sep '11 8:16:57 PM by BrainSewage

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?

Jobs to maintain machines open up. :3

ALSO.

"Cars are horrible, they'll cause the people who scoop poop up after horses to go out of business!"

Also if you ask a transhumanists then we (or someone) joins up with the computers.

edited 9th Sep '11 8:18:10 PM by Zersk

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ

This is why you should support robot rights. END MECHANICAL SLAVERY NOW!

[1] This facsimile operated in part by synAC.

Carbon chauvanism!

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ

So we then have to compete with them for wages? Robots don't have kids to feed!

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." - Some guy with a snazzy hat.

Unless they're Von Neumann machines.

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ

@Tzetze We're here! We're 010011101110! Get used to it!

I know, people had the same fears during the Industrial Revolution, even though that era seems to have helped us out a bit. Problem is, those jobs went somewhere. If computers are soon to take over everything, then who's to say there won't be computers who oversee computers who oversee computers...

That sounds expensive now that I think about it, but hey- so are people.

edited 9th Sep '11 8:23:03 PM by BrainSewage

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?

Jobs are a necessary evil, not a right or a privilege. Working is not part a natural part of the human condition. The fact that we won't need to do certain things because robots do them for us can only be a good thing. The problem is our stupid economy and the philosophies governing it.

I envision a world where machines dictate everything. They are the welcome wagon, your legs, and the master accountants while the humans pore over their work in a futile attempt to feel useful.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt." - Some guy with a snazzy hat.

Will we have robot lawyers and robot cops?

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am...

Pshah, robots. Bioconstructs are really where it's at folks.

I draws things. And I seem to be some sort of marine entity.

Nah, man, you're thinking Quantam Constructs. :3

ᐅᖃᐅᓯᖅ ᐊᑕᐅᓯᖅ ᓈᒻᒪᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ

Don't be silly. It takes way fewer people to maintain the machines than it does to do the work the machines do. If it didn't, nobody would use the machines!

This article is relevant.

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It will be a long, long time until we will have robots as a threat to actual customer service oriented jobs.

Emperor Wu liked cake, but not exploding cake!

Yeah, because you can totally support a family as a clerk at Staples.

Good article. I just have a hard time believing humans could ever cooperate on that level. I dunno. Maybe I just like to have something to be pessimistic about.

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?

But plenty of jobs require good people skills that can still pay the bills. That will be the hardest part of getting a robot to really feel human, making them really understand the nuances of human interaction.

Emperor Wu liked cake, but not exploding cake!

You rang?

Robots don't have intuition.

That doesn't seem like a big thing, but it is. So many jobs require human intuition and noticing when things seem just a little bit off.

Robots will make our lives much easier to a degree. But they can never replace man in many things.

I, for one, welcome our robot brothers and sisters with open arms.

Through the eyes I have known you.

I remember a friend saying that the Final Epoc would occure when techology starts to replace all the workers.

I see robots as a advancement of our mental evolution. If we can make a machaince that can think for itself then we have proved ourselfs a grand creator. Through this we will evolve.

I’m a lumberjack and I’m ok. I sleep all night and work all day.

Dammit, imojee! I was going to say something similar.

We're still in the Industrial Revolution, when you think about it. Similar problems, but we don't have any known saboteurs as of yet and I doubt they'd be throwing wooden shoes into the works.

While it's nice to look into the distant future and see a world where humans are all pampered by robots who do all the work, the part in between (where not everyone has access to them, and the one's who don't can't find work) is less pretty.

And, unfortunately, there's not really anything we can do that an advanced enough machine can't do more efficiently. Nearly all customer support lines are automated nowadays, only switching over to an actual person if you give 'em "No, that's not what I'm calling about" enough times.

edited 10th Sep '11 2:53:45 AM by RTaco

'Pampered' humans are fat, decadent, worthless creatures. As soon as that world becomes reality, we're finished as a species.

The people who had fears about the industrial revolution turned out to be completely right, as is obvious if you actually look at the state of most 'developed' economies. Officially unemployment in the US is 9.1%, but I've seen a variety of sources claim it's nearer 20%.

Yay, machines...

edited 10th Sep '11 5:37:07 AM by InverurieJones

'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'

Do you know how many times I just went straight to the operators?

Every. Time.

I think that has more to do with economic conditions than anything else.

edited 10th Sep '11 5:38:40 AM by Kraken