SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Agricultural robotics research fellow Dr Christopher Lehnert spoke at CQUniversity yesterday about robots being developed to pick fruit and detect weeds.
One problem they could solve was harvesting labour shortages.
"It's a causal workforce problem. (For farmers) their really high risk is getting a workforce to pick the fruit," Mr Lehnert said.
"There's not a worry about job losses. We're just shifting the paradigm. Instead of being in the field, they will control robots."
He hoped to be well on the way towards a commercial fruit-picking design by the end of next year.
Another part of his research was designing robots for broadacre weed management.
"We are looking at taking the human out of the tractor and getting an autonomous platform," he said.
"The large machines they use on farms do a lot of damage to the soil. They compact the soils and destroy them.
"But robots would be smaller, they wouldn't cause this issue."
Hmm, this kind of thing didn't end well for the Quarians...
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by K_benzoate on Sunday July 12 2015, @10:33AM
What is your economic model when "mental" work is also done better by machines, except for the rarefied heights of academic advancement--which by definition is only accessible to a small percentage of humans?
I predict mass poverty, starvation, riots, and then extermination by the technologically-empowered elites legitimized in the name of "defending private property".
Climate change is real and primarily caused by human activity.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Gravis on Sunday July 12 2015, @02:46PM
What is your economic model when "mental" work is also done better by machines,
my point is that when physical labor is automated that people will get the automation themselves and thus not need money at all. however, when an AI can do the mental work of a child (i.e. learning), it will rapidly evolve into strong AI. whatever happens after that is completely up to the strong AI.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Sunday July 12 2015, @06:00PM
So, Skynet it is then.
(Score: 2) by penguinoid on Sunday July 12 2015, @09:11PM
Skynet is one of the less dangerous possibilities. A proper AI wouldn't even have to fight a war against us, but might still exterminate us like we exterminate other species -- incidentally, through habitat destruction. Basically, a strong AI could do whatever the heck it wants, and you better hope it was programmed exactly right with respect to what it wants, and that there is no unforeseen shortcuts (eg if told to do things that make people happy we almost certainly end up with electrodes stimulating our pleasure center).
RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.