The Boy Who Cried Robot: A World Without Work

Started by jimmy olsen, June 28, 2015, 12:26:12 AM

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What should we do if automation renders most people permanently unemployed?

Negative Income Tax
26 (52%)
Communist command economy directed by AI
7 (14%)
Purge/sterilize the poor
3 (6%)
The machines will eradicate us, so why worry about unemployment?
7 (14%)
Other, please specify
7 (14%)

Total Members Voted: 49

Monoriu

Quote from: DGuller on June 06, 2016, 11:50:02 AM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 06, 2016, 11:47:35 AM
His statement is correct however as a matter of empirical experience with automation over the last 200 years.
That doesn't mean that it will continue to be correct in perpetuity, nor that it's even a good thing if it is correct.  Is endless demand creation the best long-term strategy for humanity?

Of course it is.


Admiral Yi

Should we lament the fact that telemarketers are being rendered obsolete by interactive recordings?

Valmy

Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 08, 2016, 02:02:03 PM
Should we lament the fact that telemarketers are being rendered obsolete by interactive recordings?

Caller ID already did that
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

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jimmy olsen

#124
Construction workers are doomed to become obsolete 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/worlds-first-fully-functional-office-8129129#comments-section

Quote
World's first fully functional office constructed using huge 3D printer is 'just the beginning'

09:13, 7 JUN 2016 UPDATED 09:14, 7 JUN 2016 BY KARA O'NEILL

The building is part of Dubai's strategy to turn the city centre into a completely 3D printed space by 2030

A chic office building has been opened in Dubai - and is the first to be constructed entirely with a 3D printer.

The one storey building is spread over an area of 250 square metres and opened in the United Arab Emirates city on May 24.

Constructed by Chinese company Yingchuang Technology Co. Limited, the building had to pass stability tests both in the United Kingdom and China.

It was made by placing layers of cement in a 3D printer measuring a whopping six metres in height and 32 metres in length.

The office's interior was also printed in the same way.

The entire project took just 17 days to complete and cost $140,000 (£96,423).

It is believed that the building will function as an exhibition and seminar space as it is located next to the Emirates Towers.

Dubai aims to make the city into a centre filled with 3D printing technologies before 2030, of which this building is one of the first steps.

Mohammed Al Gergawi, the Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the Federal Government of the UAE, told China Daily: "It is not just a building, but also has functional offices and people working in it.

"We believe it is just the beginning. The world will change."

He said that 3D printing is estimated to cut construction time by 50 - 70% and labour costs by 50 - 80%.
It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
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celedhring

Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 08, 2016, 02:02:03 PM
Should we lament the fact that telemarketers are being rendered obsolete by interactive recordings?

Are these as effective as a proper marketer though? I find myself having an easier time hanging up on a machine than on a person. I feel rude.

Admiral Yi

Quote from: celedhring on June 12, 2016, 02:22:46 AM
Are these as effective as a proper marketer though? I find myself having an easier time hanging up on a machine than on a person. I feel rude.

Speaking only for myself, their success rates are identical.

celedhring

#128
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 12, 2016, 02:36:45 AM
Quote from: celedhring on June 12, 2016, 02:22:46 AM
Are these as effective as a proper marketer though? I find myself having an easier time hanging up on a machine than on a person. I feel rude.

Speaking only for myself, their success rates are identical.

I could say the same, I guess. But at least I let the humans speak, so I think they're missing on potential customers by switching to machines.

Monoriu

Quote from: celedhring on June 12, 2016, 02:22:46 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 08, 2016, 02:02:03 PM
Should we lament the fact that telemarketers are being rendered obsolete by interactive recordings?

Are these as effective as a proper marketer though? I find myself having an easier time hanging up on a machine than on a person. I feel rude.

I don't.  I hang up on marketers all the time with zero hesitation. 

Berkut

I think it is rude to NOT hang up on them.
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select * from users where clue > 0
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garbon

Telemarketers never call me and I have a landline. :(
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Jacob


garbon

Quote from: Jacob on June 13, 2016, 02:53:01 PM
Quote from: garbon on June 13, 2016, 02:32:38 PM
Telemarketers never call me and I have a landline. :(

In the UK?

Indeed. Also though they never really called me in SF either. Only ever have called me at my desk at work (both in NYC and London).
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Monoriu

Quote from: garbon on June 13, 2016, 02:32:38 PM
Telemarketers never call me and I have a landline. :(

They don't call landlines anymore, at least in Hong Kong.  They call mobiles only. 

It is easy to tell if it is a telemarketer.  First of all, they use some kind of machine to make mass calls.  You pick up the phone, say hello, and if the other party takes 4-5 seconds to give any response, it is a telemarketer.  They make lots of calls at the same time, so it takes more time to react.  Secondly, by law in Hong Kong, they need to declare within the first sentence the name of the company they represent.  My experience is that they are all banks and loan sharks, trying to persuade me to take up loans.