I know we’re probably far from that but damn I I just want a robot to do the dishes. That would honestly be valuable and I’d be willing to pay a lot for it.
Problem is this robot will probably be on some subscription and soon with ads.
“Hey Robot please do the dishes”
“Sure - but have you considered that you’d get cleaner dishes if you bought this detergent?”
If I could buy it once and own it though, that’d be great.
Exactly. Not that I don’t appreciate the automation we have, but this is one of the domestic “last mile” problems - along with proper dusting and loading and folding laundry - that need to be solved.
Because they want to replace the complexities and pitfalls of human relationships with something compliant that they can fuck without it asking for anything in return.
Sci-fi robots are still teasing the minds of many. Like hoverboards. And Mars colonization. Although many of them are pretty unpragmatic and consist of more problems that they’d solve.
Exactly. Because the only ones benefitting from lower cost labor are those who own or run corporations. Workers will just lose jobs and there is no guarantee enough new jobs will open up once things settle.
Ok, stop using computers, any other tools, electricity, any building, and go live in the cave or something, and even there do not even think to use a stick to help yourself. Because all of those are tools and replacing human labor.
You seem to think that real-world decisions must be all-or-nothing, and that somehow all technology can be conflated with humanoid robots. This is nonsense, and you shouldn’t be immediately jumping to an extreme position.
Tools, such as computers and electricity, enhance human capabilities but don’t directly replace human work.
The only function of a humanoid robot is to replace a human. A humanoid robot is not a tool, it’s a substitute.
First of all, I do not think in black and white, as you did to the post I have answered.
I will not deny that robots as any other new technology can and will create its challenges, but ,come on!, robots on factories were replacing factory workers for very long time. And if you look more general, 200 years ago, like 70% of population were working in agriculture, until industrial revolution with mechanization and automation replaced like all of them, so that un US now is less than 2%.
We absolutely need AI + robots. We have aging population, our Social Security program is under danger to become insolvent because more older population and less young population (and no, another population boom is not the answer). The US manufacturing productivity (https://usafacts.org/articles/what-is-labor-productivity-and-how-has-it-changed-in-the-us-over-time/) is actually going DOWN for the last 10+ years. The AI + robots is absolutely that multiplier that our economy needs for us to have great future.
Now, I totally understand that one can completely screw up the future, and this is why we should be vigilant and vote for right politicians, advocate right policies and so on, but stopping new technology because of this fear is absolutely not what we should do.
30 years later…sir, we tracked the last penny. Robert Robertson from El Cajon California seems to be in possession of it but is telling everyone that he lost it under the couch. What should we do?
The solution should be to fix our system which is designed to enrich the wealthy. We should fix this and have the machines/AI and automation to benefit everyone.
I feel like your solution is to not do the cool new innovative thing that has the potential to help everyone, and so let’s just stay in this capitalist hellscape as is? At least if massive robot automation displaces tons of jobs, then the Working class might be forced to come together and fight back, maybe?
Your mindset is just to keep everything the way it currently is, which I think sucks.
Your mindset is just to keep everything the way it currently is, which I think sucks.
No, it isn’t. Don’t put words in my mouth. This is impossible anyway, things can’t ever be kept the way they are.
The solution should be to fix our system which is designed to enrich the wealthy.
I agree with this completely. It needs to be done first, not second and not during.
I feel like your solution is to not do the cool new innovative thing that has the potential to help everyone
That’s the point, it doesn’t have the potential to help everyone until after the socioeconomic issues are resolved. We, the working class, should not be cheering for any of this until it has the potential to benefit and not harm us.
My only last point would be that what if the socioeconomic changes we want could be resolved because of the technical/automation advancements? What if it’s the only way to get the change we want? I’d see great hardship as a transition most probably.
I’m obviously just speculating here. I’m very very cynical about solving the socioeconomic issues first, I just don’t see it happening, enstead we just stay business as usual. At least with a huge shift in automation causing massive job loss there is the potential for a big revolutionary change. No guarantee obviously, it could also only make things worse. We really don’t know.
I’d see great hardship as a transition most probably […] massive job loss […] big revolutionary change
What do you think a situation like this would look like, in practice? I’m curious because I see people suggest that some kind of revolution would be a good thing… but what you’re talking about is a lot of suffering and death leading up to the revolution, followed by violence and more death during, followed by more hardship and death trying to pick up the pieces after… do you expect to not be part of the suffering and death? do you expect it to happen after your life? what about family?
Frankly I think this kind of fatalism is a lazy cop-out. Saying “things are bad and getting worse, and there’s nothing I can do about it, so let’s just wait for it to all fall apart” excuses you from making an effort to improve things now. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and collectively we make our own hell through inaction and the belief that collapse is inevitable.
We can demand more from our governments. By organizing, we can overwhelm the intentions of the wealthy. We can do better now.
I see the mass displacement of the working class as the only thing that would unite us. Bring in the robots. The only thing you have to lose is your chains.
Genuine question how would we “fix” our society by removing those jobs and keep same or more people. What jobs would they do. Having robots do Amazon workhouse jobs would displace thousands of people who work that for a job where would they go. They can’t just become software developers or medical workers etc. The way I see it is we just need more jobs in general so removing some is a total negative unless we have somewhere for them to go.
I dont have a solution, that’s why I’m cynical. It is perfectly OK to say “I don’t know”.
That being said, you’re way of thinking is very myopic and only fits our current society standard / zeitgeist.
Why do people need to do these menial jobs at all? You’re answer is probably that they won’t have money to pay for food, rent, etc. What if we had a society where people could pursue hobbies, interests, passions, etc, without fear of homelessness and starvation? Why can’t we reach for something much better than what we have now?
Some people would exploit such a system and never contribute to society and just sit around playing video games all day? So what, who gives a shit?
Just because this would be extremely difficult, and we have absolutely no idea how to do it, doesn’t mean we should just give up and not try. The current system sucks ass. People shouldn’t be wasting there time doing menial pointless labor to keep the wealthy rich, just to survive a pointless existence.
Not everyone needs to work. Many jobs are useless or detrimental to our existence.
We need to think about fundamental changes in how our societies run.
Think about how much wealth the richest people in our world have. Would it be so bad if they lived in a regular house if it meant living in a world where everyone has accomodation, food, health care and education - and the work that is done is that which is actually useful to our survival and development as a species.
Why be so committed to the idea that “everyone needs to work” for some arbitrary reason to build useless plastic things, or countless variations of the same thing with different packaging. Why are we continuing to live in a world that throws perfectly good food into dumpsters and landfill just to keep prices at a certain level. The world we are living in now is totally nonsensical.
If people had the security of being able to leave their job and not face eviction, starvation, or poor health they would have the freedom to retrain, learn more, and move onto something which is of actual benefit.
We don’t need countless food delivery drivers, bankers, or stock brokers. All of those people would benefit us much more by doing nothing. We don’t need more jobs, we need less jobs.
Imagine a world where we do the work needed to build the housing, education facilities, food and energy production we actually need. Then we are free to build technology which benefits us instead of enslaving us. We could live without poisoning our environment and driving our planet deeper into climate change and extinction.
If we lived in that world we would be able to build humanoid robots to do the work we don’t want to do, and it would benefit us all. We would have more time to pursue our own interests and passions. No people put out of jobs, who then become homeless, who then need to turn to crime for survival, and no need build humanoid killer robots to hunt us all down when we all lose our jobs.
But therein lies the problem. You yourself are a commodity. You benefit the wealthy when you go to work, so everybody must work. We have created nothing here but a ceaseless wheel that mangles the pennies from our corpses.
I think I am just more optimistic/realistic than you are (I would not choose such depressing nickname for myself, for example).
First, I will deny you that people are evil and they are only about domination and profits. People are complex and beautiful creatures, but yes, there are ugly sides as well.
Second, if the world is about domination and profits, then we should see worse and worse life as time goes on. This is not the case. Just imagine how average life was 200 years, ago, 1000 years ago. 10000 years ago... Life is much better today, and will become only better in the future. True, there will be challenges, and setbacks, but we will evolve, we are smart and good enough for that. And AI will help :)
And thank you for calling me young. I did not hear this complement for a long time :)
The problem with this under capitalism is the working class won’t see any benefit from robots taking mental jobs. The remaining jobs can rely on desperation instead of better pay to attract workers. If we were under a system that supported ubi, then yeah robots can take whatever job idgaf, I could find something that makes me happy. But that isn’t how capitalism works
We do not live just in capitalism. There are different political flavors of it. We live in democratic capitalism, which I believe is the best combination so far discovered (or the least evil). UBI is not contradictive to democratic capitalism and I believe we will come to something like that at the end.
Some of them are, lot of con artists are just scamming investors (e.g. WeWork). But ppl like Altman actually beleive they are changing the world for the better, why they also have the skills and the funds to do so - I think that is scarier
No, but there definitely should be a billion safeguards on it, and they should in no way be under the direct control of those already in positions of power
Agree with your comment. It seems most people are conservative about stuff like this due to fear.
I personally want the AI and the cool robot stuff, without hesitation. Our problem (imo) is our current corrupt, exploitative capitalist system. We need regulation that protects the entire populace, not just the billionaire and corporate leadership class. All these advancements should absolutely be explored, but for the benefit of all, and protections for everyone.
How we fix this though, I’m cynical. Which is why I respect people who are mostly afraid of the possible negative consequences.
They know exactly what they are doing. They are all desperate to be in charge of our new AI powered overlords.
AI doesn’t benefit anyone on this planet whatsoever except wealthy people at the end of the day. It only serves to oppress the majority of the populace otherwise, one way or another.
It’s basic economics, actually. The same way any other automation only serves to reduce human workforce and increase profits. You think factory automation serves to benefit the general masses somehow? What do you think all these robots are going be doing? Wandering around and helping the general public isn’t profitable for the long list of wealthy individuals trying to make them a reality 🤣
You wouldn’t have the computer you’re complaining from without hundreds of years of automation and tools making labor more efficient to make it happen.
Or, with the number of people on the planet, even 1% of the food it takes for you to not die.
With humans having created these tools. Now the goal is to automate the humans away as much as possible. Complete shift from the past examples and experiences you’ve mentioned.
The way it currently exists 100%, if the goal for using AI wasn’t profit above all it could be extremely useful for common humans. It probably never will be that but it could potentially be
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