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Portentous changes to the work economies of India and the USA due to job automation by machines and robots continue to make headlines. Varieties of hardware and software automation are seeing implementation burgeon in both countries, as companies seek efficiency by replacing humans with machines. Wage erosion in areas previously unaffected by automation - including varieties of programming - is getting commoner while new, albeit highly specialized, engineering jobs are created. Both articles encourage educational changes mindful of these realities, though how colleges either side of the world can adapt to the blistering pace of automation is unclear.
The latest tranche of job automation news comes hot on the heels of Davos' prediction that machine automation will result in a net loss globally of over 5 million jobs prior to 2020.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Mr Big in the Pants on Wednesday February 10 2016, @05:20AM
It is more ironic than that and something that more people should be paying attention to and even the WTO and OECD have commented on.
Economies need the working class to be earning so they can spend. Rich people spend no where near as much as others - the poor being the biggest ones. If all the jobs go, so do our fragiles economies and the effect being somewhat of a snowball if the history of economic collapse is anything to go by.
But of course all our societies now are neck deep in the religions that tout "greed is good", "growth over everything" and "Any sort of welfare is abhorrent". Not to mention the majority that believe that anyone with deserves as does anyone without regardless of situation.
But it will be interesting to see how all those truisms fare when the jobs start drying up...
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Wednesday February 10 2016, @06:14AM
what's going to happen is that product design software will have accompanying software that automates the design of manufacturing process using existing manufacturing systems. since it knows what you want to make, it will make the manufacturing layout and tell each robot what to do. the result will be turnkey operation using software alone. this new system will result in laying off everyone in manufacturing except some people to oversee the bots. that's how the economic crisis will begin.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday February 10 2016, @01:38PM
Isn't this basically outsourced mfgr, if you think of China like a magic black box?
Seeed studio is cool, and I've blown money there, but hasn't entirely taken over small hobby electronics. I'm not even sure their growth rate is keeping up with the market.
If treating them like a black box doesn't work, treating a new "real" black box like existing black boxes probably won't work any better.
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Wednesday February 10 2016, @09:31PM
Isn't this basically outsourced mfgr, if you think of China like a magic black box?
yes, the difference it is significantly faster and less expensive.
If treating them like a black box doesn't work, treating a new "real" black box like existing black boxes probably won't work any better.
the software i'm talking about will use warehouses and machines that reconfigure themselves for the desired task and throughput. since it's all automated, it will run 24/7/365.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Murdoc on Wednesday February 10 2016, @10:06AM
Economies need the working class to be earning so they can spend.
This is true in every economy so far, but it doesn't need to be, and indeed it is what is holding us back. As technology advances, it increases our ability to produce more, as well as do so with less labor. But less labor means less income with which to buy that new production, so we are left with the catch-22 of our age: the more we produce, the less we can consume. The only solution is to unlink income from labor. Let the machines produce more for us, and let us just enjoy it. Of course there is more to it than that, but that's just all the details. [technocracy.ca]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 10 2016, @03:36PM
https://soundcloud.com/fatboyslim/02-machines-can-do-the-work [soundcloud.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 11 2016, @06:52AM
From what I see there are a few destinations:
a) have the machines be our slaves, yay
b) have a large underclass of humans effectively be slaves, competing vs the machines on who can be cheaper (this is not a good position to be in).
c) mass unrest
d) a blend of a,b,c :)
The virtual economy stuff may help if the virtual stuff can be really cheap so that the underclass can afford virtual toys (circuses) to make their life more fun while the bulk of their earnings are for rent and food (bread). But with stuff like the TPP and "Intellectual Property" the virtual stuff might not be that cheap legally. So the underclass might only be able to afford to get their "circuses" illegally.
(Score: 2) by Mr Big in the Pants on Thursday February 11 2016, @08:37AM
Err...we already have d.
The number of people in 3rd world countries subsisting on at or just less than what is needed to survive is very high. In some ways this is WORSE than many slaves as slaves were property and keeping them functioning well was their master's responsibility. There have been many slaves in human history that have been better treated than the poor around the world...including some 1st world countries. There is now a growing number of "working poor" which are people who work full time but only make just enough to subsist on which is functionally akin to slavery in which your "pay" is your food and accommodation.
The article in my view is just saying this is getting worse.