The Boy Who Cried Robot: A World Without Work

[Monoriu]

I am not too worried.  Who knows what will happen in 200 years, but I really doubt if a post-scarcity economy will happen in our lifetimes.  You still need raw materials and energy for the machines.  Things like land will always be scarce.  You can't just build your dream house as there is not enough land to build it on.

As long as you're not in a major city or tourist area, the land will be cheaper than the materials.

And why should you be worried? A post scarcity economy would be a good thing.

A post-scarcity economy would be a complete disaster.  Insufficiency is probably the most fundamental and most important foundation of human society and mindset.  Everything we do is centred around that concept.  Humanity would have lost its purpose if people start to believe that insufficiency no longer applies.  It is the necessary engine for growth and advancement. 

[Eddie Teach]

Advancement will slow regardless. Knowledge advances used to be made by affluent eccentrics conducting experiments for fun in their homes. Now they take teams of people who've spent twenty years learning highly specialized knowledge using technological devices they barely understand.

Anyway, what's the point of all these advances if they don't make our lives better?

[jimmy olsen]

Advancement will slow regardless. Knowledge advances used to be made by affluent eccentrics conducting experiments for fun in their homes. Now they take teams of people who've spent twenty years learning highly specialized knowledge using technological devices they barely understand.

Despite this, technological advancement has only seemed to accelerate over time.

[Eddie Teach]

Sure. For instance, we have a pretty good idea how old human civilization is and some theories about how old the universe is. We've also developed the mathematical concept of "limits" and observed how various formulas perform as they approach one.

I'm not going to argue with you whether scientific progress has accelerated or decelerated since the early days of the scientific revolution, as that is nigh on impossible to quantify. But the human mind is finite.

[Zanza]

Regarding Tim's article: automatization will cost a lot of jobs in the third world. When robots become cheaper than third world workers for stuff that is currently done there, it makes no sense to build a factory staffed with robots far away from markets, from maintenance service personnel and in unstable political or legal frameworks, so those robotic factories will be built in the West first. Adidas for example has started making shoes in Germany again - with robots of course.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Regarding Tim's article: automatization will cost a lot of jobs in the third world. When robots become cheaper than third world workers for stuff that is currently done there, it makes no sense to build a factory staffed with robots far away from markets, from maintenance service personnel and in unstable political or legal frameworks, so those robotic factories will be built in the West first. Adidas for example has started making shoes in Germany again - with robots of course.

The Economist was worrying about this in a recent issue. Apparently sub-Saharan Africa is de-industrialising (% of GDP in manufacturing that is) and the manufacturing export-led route out of poverty is closing. Meanwhile the populations continue to inexorably rise at 3%+ pa, due largely to the poverty of course. It is a chilling prospect.

[The Brain]

Well not everyone can win bigly. And on the plus side they will be spared the evil that is globalization.

[Monoriu]

Wife is starting to use Starbucks app to order drinks.  So far the results have been fantastic.  She orders ahead and skips the waiting and payment stages.  When she arrives at Starbucks all she needs to do is to pick up her drink.  This overcomes Starbuck's greatest weakness, which is long waiting times.  I think this has great potential and can save a lot of waiting and labour for all take-away orders.  I hope McDonald's and other fast food places adopt the technology as well.   

[Josquius]

I'm not sold on it.
But a counterpoint to the end of work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUmyygCMMGA

[Jacob]

"...And to Xiacob, I hereby bequeath my coolie, Monoriu, who he may release into the wild as he sees fit."

Oh I'll see fit to do something alright.

[Caliga]

Wife is starting to use Starbucks app to order drinks.  So far the results have been fantastic.  She orders ahead and skips the waiting and payment stages.  When she arrives at Starbucks all she needs to do is to pick up her drink.  This overcomes Starbuck's greatest weakness, which is long waiting times.  I think this has great potential and can save a lot of waiting and labour for all take-away orders.  I hope McDonald's and other fast food places adopt the technology as well.

Uh, we've been doing this for years.

[Savonarola]

GREETING MACHINE WILL DESTROY NEED FOR HUMAN BEINGS TO GREET ONE ANOTHER!  WILL MANKIND SURVIVE?

Greeting Machine Explores Extreme Minimalism in Social Robots

I thought this was interesting; miLAB created a social robot who only consists of two spheres and whose sole function is to greet people.  They found that they could get the robot to move in a way that most people would interpret as a greeting:

The Greeting Machine.

I had never heard of a social robot before this.  The Wikipedia article has a great phrase " The technological posthumanization of human societies."

[Syt]

You want social robots?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paro_(robot)

Though I find this rather depressing.

[jimmy olsen]

DOOM!

https://gizmodo.com/automation-software-that-helped-consulting-firm-cut-40-1832160885/amp

[Monoriu]

Sometimes I do wonder how come the coffee making business has not seen more automation.  It seems to me that the entire process is totally mechanistic and repetitive.