ASIMOV SAVE US (Automation & the Economy)

[Cantih]

If it wasn't for cash, I have a feeling box office cashiers would be the first to go.

...

It is obvious to anybody that comes through the door we are totally understaffed, but the "solution" is to let people know about ticket machines and vending machines, so they can get to their movie without having to interact with any staff.

A number of theaters in my area have also recently added those freestanding touchscreen soda machines, and I saw the behind the counter fountains had been pulled out and there were fewer people there now.
If they put in kiosks that took bills, yeah, box office would be next. Hell, it even got me thinking and I ended up figuring out an implementation that would eliminate ticket-takers too.

I genuinely expect new construction and remodels to regularize chains so they can even implement roombas and the like for janitorial services. All that will be left is hot food service and helpdesk/security.
And management.

[kuronosan]

That's just retarded. I don't really see how that helps people at all. One person's convenience is another's unemployment knell.

[Cantih]

That's just retarded. I don't really see how that helps people at all.

Ah, you think it's done to help people.
Most of the time it's done to help corporate bottom lines, people are expensive dontchaknow.

[kuronosan]

Ah, you think it's done to help people.
Most of the time it's done to help corporate bottom lines, people are expensive dontchaknow.

Mmm. The woosh is strong in this one.

[Cantih]

[Meresgi]

Like the podcast says, those jobs should be automated because why the fuck do we really need people doing them other then to let college graduates have something to do. We should set a base living wage paid to most people, make education free and allow our society to benefit from people who really WANT to make more to go on and do just that. No one wants to be a Starbucks barrista or a ticket taker, they do it because they are stuck and it's the only thing. I'm sure some have much higher aspirations, since i'm sure a lot have college degrees, while some would just be happy making ends meet and nothing more.

Fuck education in this country *throws down glove*

[hey]

This is something i've thought about a bit before, but not a lot because i figure i'll be long dead before it's a serious issue.

I can't see any alternative than at some point providing every single person with a basic income that would allow them to live comfortably. Jobs in business, government, and research will always be available to those who wish to for more.

[Meresgi]

This is something i've thought about a bit before, but not a lot because i figure i'll be long dead before it's a serious issue.

I can't see any alternative than at some point providing every single person with a basic income that would allow them to live comfortably. Jobs in business, government, and research will always be available to those who wish to for more.

But Capitalism! How will people succeed if they don't have the opportunity to work at flipping burgers. Not to mention that if you work at these jobs you can put yourself through college, just like our parents and grand parents did!

[CorvusFortis]

a lot of this is contained to murica, not that someone else is doing it right/perfectly, but yeah.

[Roranora]

Earlier this year, I interviewed with MS/Bing, and frankly brought up how the job and its tasks will soon be replaced by software. She acknowledged this, but then replied something like, "well, at least you'll be able to make money this summer?". (They were at least guaranteeing full-time work through August)

But Capitalism! How will people succeed if they don't have the opportunity to work at flipping burgers. Not to mention that if you work at these jobs you can put yourself through college, just like our parents and grand parents did!

Nice

[hey]

But Capitalism! How will people succeed if they don't have the opportunity to work at flipping burgers. Not to mention that if you work at these jobs you can put yourself through college, just like our parents and grand parents did!

It's pretty obvious that capitalism won't work at all at some point.

[Niiro]

I wasn't aware it worked well to begin with.

[hey]

Working poorly is quite different from not working at all.

[Cantih]

a lot of this is contained to murica, not that someone else is doing it right/perfectly, but yeah.

Not really. The kiosk article I linked was taking place in Europe (where human wages are relatively better, so the margins make it the first place to go for it). The manufacturing link had it's events occur in Asia.
Spain, the UK, France, all have ridiculous youth unemployment rates. It goes on and on, it's not just a US problem, it's a global one.

[Senji]

This is something i've thought about a bit before, but not a lot because i figure i'll be long dead before it's a serious issue.

I can't see any alternative than at some point providing every single person with a basic income that would allow them to live comfortably. Jobs in business, government, and research will always be available to those who wish to for more.

This is what Sweden is doing.

The uproar only seems to be people pointing finger saying that others should get nothing [and simply die.]

[ringthree]

Thorium Reactors are the next step for more than one reason, but we'll need that kind of (essentially) free energy in order to continue scientific endeavors / keeping the world lit.

There is enough Thorium on earth to power society until the sun dies and humans don't have that long anyway. If we want to survive a nuclear winter, a massive volcanic eruption which forces an ice age, a 10km meteor strike, all of which are only compounded upon by global warming, then we'll need a power source like this for our (literal) man caves.

Thorium reactors are just the next light water reactors, the next high temperature gas cooled reactors. It is the same rhetoric out of the nuclear industry every new "generation". Safe, secure, melt-down proof, proliferation proof. There is nothing different about these reactors except for the material fueling them. Still nuclear waste, still can melt-down, still can be diverted, still insanely expensive to build.

The hype around Thorium is a perfect example of what happens when the internet tries to understand science and fucking fails.

(That said, I generally support the idea of nuclear power and believe we need to expand it. We just need to get serious about how we deal with it and stop believing this fucking hype about every new generation of nuclear power somehow finally becoming a miracle. In the end we are burning nuclear fuel. There are serious issues involved and we will not deal with them if we pretend they don't exist.)

[BerenTebogo]

Fusion is the future.

Alternatively,

Fusion is always "20 years away"

[Roranora]

Fair enough. It's too bad the future never gets here, only the present.

[Cantih]

You can now start getting ready to say goodbye to harvesting jobs. (No more kids picking tobacco though, so that's good.)
http://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/c...tpicker_robot/

Might be a bit slower (for now), but you can run the things day and night, they don't care.

[Roranora]

but you can run the things day and night, they don't care.

If they do care, we'll be in a world of hurt later on..

Seriously though, pretty damn cool. I watched the gif a few times - I like the little tug & snip action, kinda cute to watch or some shit.

http://giant.gfycat.com/PopularWelloffAztecant.gif