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The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Go watch this video, everybody. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU

So basically, bots day by day are getting to the level of doing better work than humans. Thus, hurting the human job market. But trying to stifle new technology is usually hurtful. So, after watching the video, my oh so literate allies, what do YOU think we should do to prepare for the bots if the day were to come where most humans are no longer needed for jobs. 

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago
The H.I. podcast is my favorite podcast to listen to :D

I also spend quite a bit of time on Grey's reddit. Always nice to see a new video by him xD

Bots? I guess I'll just get into computer science like I was planning :P

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Who knows, maybe the bots will come for that job too. Enjoy it while it lasts. Lol.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I also agree, I have been following Grey for a long time now.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I found his video very pessimistic. I don't think that bots will eventually take all of the jobs as that wouldn't be beneficial for anyone (with the possible exception of the bot-sellers). If 45% of the population will become jobless the economy would collapse, as that'll mean that the government will receive much less taxes long-term. I don't think any government, not union, nor reasonable person would allow that.

Furthermore, CGP Grey is in my recollection mostly talking about money as the motivation for automation, but I don't think that it is. There are a lot of people who love their jobs, and that is, in my opinion, a great motivation to not automate as people will always find a way to do a job they like, even if there is a cheaper alternative in automation.

Automation also costs tons of money, and in the foreseeable future, I don't think that companies will employ bots on a massive scale as that will cost millions or billions in a short amount of time. You can already see this in the present. Take China for example, the reason that millions of unskilled laborers still find work there is the simple fact that automation costs too much money.

However, I agree with CGP Grey that some forms of work will inevitably be automated, like parts of the delivery sector. However, I still believe that full automation of most forms of work will happen, as that would mean that large parts of society would become jobless, which would in my opinion mean that society will be disrupted in an unprecedented scale, which a government won't let happen.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I disagree with Rom. Automation is on the way, however slow, it will take over most of the jobs eventually and we will be left in a sort of economic crisis. Capitalism will no longer be relevant. I suspect people with power will try to keep there jobs, and they may succeed but is this, overall, a bad thing? No, I don't think so. In an ideal world, we would steadily move onto a system much like what the Venus Project has thought of, in this world, there would be no need for the amount of jobs we hold now. I highly suggest looking into The Venus Project for anyone who is interested.

You know you could embed the video?

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Hmm, that's weird, I kinda agree with Rom... I agree with you that a Venus Project kind of society would solve the problem of a changing society due to total automation, but I don't think that it is likely that we will see a society like this within our lifetimes. The whole premise of the Venus Project is that society will be overhauled, big time. I don't think that most people will be able to accept a society that is in every way different than the one they grew up in and are used to. I think that people will try harder to stop too-far-going automation than that they will try to overhaul society.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Hmm, true. The Venus Project is not something that will be easily implimented. I suspect that will never happen unless the situation gets drastic.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Ha ha, I remember arguing with Galo about how the Venus Project was stupid and ridiculous.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

The Venus Project is not realistic.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

@Madbrad200 If only I knew how... :3

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

For manufacturing? Yes.  For agriculture?  That's debatable.  Secretarial work?  Yes.  Administrative, culinary, fine arts, sports, and others...not so much.

The only concern I have is if the bots can outperform / aid emergency care workers by finding the correct diagnosis and providing the right treatment.  I'm mostly aiming for medical work of some sort, so would anything past monitors obstruct or aid a physician in the future?

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Pretty much all of them could be replaced by robots of some kind.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I'm not sure about diagnostic medicine being replaced with robots. Biology may seem like an algorithmic field to someone not-part of it, but it's not always so.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

The medical field cannot be replaced by robots. I'm not saying this out of bias, I'm saying it because of the nature of the field. Humans will continue to use very advanced machinery for things like surgery, but until we create perfectly humanoid androids, human nature dictates that you'll want a real doctor or nurse by your bedside when you're facing death, not a robot.

Not to mention, a lot of advancements in monitoring / taking vitals are crappy. Like wrist cuffs. Convenient, fast, shitty at dealing with uniquely sized wrists (which a surprising amount of people have in comparison to the cuff's "one size fits all" loop) and questionable at best in accuracy. Best way to get a blood pressure? Manually. With a stethoscope. By a human.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

When I was volunteering in a hospital, instead of taking blood pressure manually, we had a machine that tested for practically everything. It was pretty cool, though sometimes it's reading would be something stupid like 250/180 for a normal teenager, and we had to do it manually.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Our tech is getting better, I'll say that, but it's got a long way to go and the human element will always be important.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Yeah, I doubt we will ever get to the stage where robots run everything, ha ha, but technology has been helping the medical field immensely. No computer program will be able to diagnose and then treat a patient as well as humans do, for a looooooooong time. 

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Agreed, absolutely. (xD Hell, look at WebMD ...)

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Even then, I doubt most people would really want to be treated by a robot regardless of how accurate. lol

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

"human nature dictates that you'll want a real doctor or nurse by your bedside when you're facing death, not a robot."

Yeah, that's the point I was making...

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I'm still waiting for a robot that can understand language.  I've never had one over-the-phone that could interpret plain English, even if spoken s-s-l-o-o-o-w-l-y-y-y  :(

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

If every country de-captalizes simultaneously, we'd end up with a u/dys/neutopia in which humans only work when robots aren't functioning properly and you're considered a filthy laborer if your job is to fix and operate the machines. Everyone else would just be off pursuing their dreams money-free and earning up "favor tokens" or some shit that tries to accurately determine what people really deserve as opposed to what they've "earned" so that everyone who runs a previously ginormous company would be getting by just like everyone else who worked for them, and everyone, since there's no point in settling for a shit job since the robots do it all, would probably just run about doing the job of their dreams, everyone will try to write a book or start painting, and everyone will get SO BORED of the non-challenge in their real lives that living and working in the Amish country for a few months would be like a vacation, and interactive media sales would skyrocket. All those bullshit Percy Jackson books would be thrown out the window and replaced by CYOAs.

We're just ahead of the curve, my CYS friends. Just ahead of the curve... 

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Don't worry about it too much,

With the global warming and enough bombs to destroy the world many times.  We may not even make it to that point.

 

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

It will happen eventually, but I don't think it is anything to really worry about. I don't think global warming, or bombs, will stop people looking for ways to make there job, and life, more productive.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Humans my friend; are rather persistent in their insane drive to survive anything and everything. Even if the world was thrown into chaos by nuclear warfare we would still survive in some way.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Yeah.  We could cloth ourselves in cockroach-lined rabbit skin.  XD

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

Global warming can bring the ice age or an epic drought, but we already have populations of people living in that scenario their entire lives.

No sane person would ever off the entirety of humanity with continental sized bombs, because there's no good reason, and getting to the point of actually using something like that takes charisma with a superpower nation, enough trust from the entire nation to take an action, and a large enough incentive to wipe out a massive hunk of land.

That, and if you're concerned about radioactivity, Chernobyl is doing fairly well for just 30 years.  A large demographic are composed of organisms with birth defects, and yet Mother Nature still goes along.  And with a population of 7 billion people, at least a few thousands can survive that.  Just don't be too surprised if all the next babies all look like rejects.

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

The true threat to humans is themselves, with their stupidity and lackadaisical attitudes put forth to their understanding of technology.  The Stand - Stephen King, gives us but a glimpse at one possible scenario.  But there are countless others. . .

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

So are cops bred for violence in Gattaca?

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I haven't seen Gattaca, so I can't offer my opinion.  :(

The Bots are Coming

9 years ago

I can't get the video to load, but in my field, manufacturing, there have been the most advancement in robotics.  Until some computer chip can take a rusty piece of garbage that was invented and cobbled together by some farmer over a century ago, understand the original application, and diagnose the problems that have caused it to fail, and rebuild it to better-than-intended specs.  I think my business is safe.  (Unless they decide to get rid of humans first, that is.)  ;)

Okay.  Now that I got to see the video, I wonder that if robots are so much better and cheaper, perhaps humans should quit buying products that employ the artificial workforce early, and let them buy stuff themselves, I mean, that is where things are headed isn't it?  I'm not that worried, since I have at least a basic understanding of physics & chemistry (which I can put to use in self defense), but I also know how to live off the land and can adapt to new environments.  In one shot they showed robots playing video games...That is where the true danger lies, if humans could no longer sit on their fat !@#$%^ and do nothing then...Look Out!  Humans have this insane drive for change that a robot can never understand...sure they can keep going and going and going, but...Why?  And shouldn't we just give them an Off switch?