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Another article about how technology is eliminating need for human labor. It's great seeing these articles coming out of the mainstream media woodwork.
This is actually a very important topic that all of us should be thinking about, as it's going to completely change the world of work, and probably a lot sooner than most of us realize.
With computing power continuing to double every couple of years or so, it'll not be long before we have true artificial intelligence, and with that, a whole host of technologies that could very well decimate the entire workforce in a very short period of time. Currently, it's the "mid-range" jobs that are being eliminated, like factory workers and back office personnel, the day will come when the masses of low-level employees will be replaced by cheap robots and computers that will be able to out-perform any human employee. A "self-service" McDonald's? Won't be long before we actually see those. Who needs garbage collectors when self-driving trucks will do the job just as well? Already the meter-readers have been put out of work with wireless "smart" meters they've installed everywhere. The list of jobs that'll soon be replaced by machines is endless, and if you think getting a job is difficult enough now, just wait a decade or two, if you're not among the best and brightest, getting paid employment will be next to impossible. We're already seeing the beginning of this "de-employment" process even with the FED pouring $90 billion of free money into the economy every month and the Federal government borrowing 40% more than we take in every month, which is clearly unsustainable over the long term.
So how will people be able to earn a living? The answer is, they won't. I can easily see a future in which most people live on the dole for their entire lives, paid for by taxing the producers of society at exorbitant rates. There won't be many of them to tax, but the rich will be SO rich that democratic governments will able to finance enormous budgets by having these very high tax rates. Sure, they'll squeal like stuck pigs, but with 80% of the population on the dole, they'll be outvoting the beleaguered producers 4-1. It'll be no contest, with the Democrats essentially achieving one-party rule, permanently...lol.
Of course, we could develop a society like Star Trek, where people do have jobs, but they don't work for money, only for personal fulfillment and for the greater good, with money (and profits) being non-existent. But I don't see that happening till, say, the 23rd century.
All I can say is that there's gonna be a lotta bored people out there, resentful at not having jobs like the few, and the few that do have jobs being resentful at being taxed out the wazhoo to support the unemployed masses. Oh well, that's progress for ya.
I laugh at some of these people who love to boast about how skilled and educated they are. It's very possible that within many of our lifetimes (I'm 28) that strong AI could have a level of intelligence that blows even the brightest humans out of the water. I'd say that it's DEFINITELY achievable by the end of this century. Easy.
Technology is the enemy of labor only if it is owned by a tiny % of population (the very same % that owns & manages resources, production capacity, & government to boot). Danger of labor replacing are non existent if benefits of productivity growth are spread over society. Of course if peons accepted the idea that they have no right to exist if their labor is not required by the owners of means, they should just roll over and die now, why wait? If for anything we wouldn't contaminate the future generations with our inbred slavishness.
Let's not forget, everyone here is free to invest in their own automated equipment if they think it's simply that easy... Plenty of companies go bankrupt even though they have buildings full of highly automated equipment complete with all the bells and whistles. Let's not forget, many of our labor intensive work, such as textile and clothing have also been shipped of to slave wage nations. Interesting graph below shows the results...
So, the American working age population has risen by 30 millions in the past 12 years. In that same frame of time, non farm payrolls have basically remained flat. Cause? Could be a lot of things. IMO, it's the combined effect of technology/efficiency, offshoring, illegal laborers and flat demand for goods/services. This might also explain stagnating wages for many.
One has to wonder if it will ever get to the point where robots are capable of writing opinion pieces for newspapers, curing diseases, or running congressional districts. In any case it's incredibly short-sighted... employers continue to cut costs to the bone, and then wonder why they can't make a profit because no one has any money to spend on their products.
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