Replacing Humans: Robots Among Us

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-replacing-humans-cbsn-originals/

"Anything you can do I can do better. And faster and cheaper." It's an enticing promise from a TV news announcer named Erica -- who happens to be a robot.

She's emblematic of a new generation of robotic technology that's being developed to supplement, or in some cases replace, the work of humans. Unlike the industrial robots that took over factory jobs in decades past, these robots have a more human touch and can interact with people in ways previously imagined only in science fiction.

CBS News' Adam Yamaguchi traveled to Japan to see why that country is on the leading edge of robot development.
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Too bad Isaac Asimov didn't live to see his fictional prophecies about robots become real.

More machines equal more employment. One example of this is the cotton gin...very few farmers grew cotton prior to the cotton gin, due to the difficulty of picking the seeds. Once a machine was invented that automated the deseeding process, millions more slaves were needed to pick the cotton. this is true in most instances.

itsforthekids said:

More machines equal more employment. One example of this is the cotton gin...very few farmers grew cotton prior to the cotton gin, due to the difficulty of picking the seeds. Once a machine was invented that automated the deseeding process, millions more slaves were needed to pick the cotton. this is true in most instances.

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My company builds robots to accomplish the most mundane tasks.
Place items on a pallet.
Wrap the pallet with shrink wrap.
Pick the pallet up and move it to a specific location.
Later, retrieve the pallet and move it to the loading dock.
A person, as it is now, moves it into the truck.
And, if we can, we will remove that person too.
We are trying to remove people from the warehouse. I am an engineer. I really hate that part of my job.

Frankly, I wouldn't have minded owning a robot (or two or three) I could have sent to the office to do my work, to the dry cleaner, grocery store, etc. while I enjoyed the bounty the Earth and life offers. Alas, no such thing was available in my day....

trblmkr said:

My company builds robots to accomplish the most mundane tasks.
Place items on a pallet.
Wrap the pallet with shrink wrap.
Pick the pallet up and move it to a specific location.
Later, retrieve the pallet and move it to the loading dock.
A person, as it is now, moves it into the truck.
And, if we can, we will remove that person too.
We are trying to remove people from the warehouse. I am an engineer. I really hate that part of my job.

Click to expand...

Luddite?

itsforthekids said:

More machines equal more employment. One example of this is the cotton gin.

Click to expand...

millions more slaves were needed to pick the cotton.

Click to expand...

Jetboogieman said:

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You can look at me as stupidly as you want...the point is the same. Innovation brings more need of people, be they slaves or employees...always has always will.