As Robots Grow Smarter, American Workers Struggle to Keep Up

nytimes ^ | DEC. 15, 2014 | Claire Cain Miller

[familyop]

Only a moron's moron would fold under the propaganda. Much could be made from custom jobs or otherwise very short production runs.

Those of you who are technically inclined, there was some propaganda in the past about computerized vehicles being impossible to repair at home. But you know better. Right?

Ms. Robot Mogul would love to have factories full of mega-expensive robots that last forever and ever and never need maintenance, so she could be the only producer and price products that only the richest government administrators could afford.

Got perspective, yet? Have you noticed the blitz of propaganda about robots over the past few months with links posted at Drudge? That propaganda is sponsored by morons.

"A glowing sign said:

MOOGS!
WOULD YOU BUY IT
FOR A QUARTER?" (Cyril Kornbluth, "The Marching Morons")

[morphing libertarian]

http://www.booktv.org/Program/15449/quotOur+Final+Invention+Artificial+Intelligence+and+the+End+of+the+Human+Eraquot.aspx

[familyop]

"But the old decrepit unemployed union worker still drinks his beer at the old decrepit union hall next to the old decrepit closed factory, convinced that some day the factory will reopen and the jobs will come back."

That was decades ago. He didn't realize that the spoiled descendant of industrialists and his lobbyists had started conspiring with foreign communist nations against the U.S.A.

[Jonty30]

No, but the Los Angeles Times might have.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Thanks for posting that — it’s an important point.

Over the last while, I’ve commented on Japan’s near-zero immigration policy, in the face of rapidly aging and declining population.

I’ve opined that Japan will be in better shape than Europe and N. America in a few decades. For one — it will still be Japan, and still be populated by ethnic Japanese citizens. At best, the west will be a multiculti mess.

Japan is investing heavily in robot technology. If these robots don’t go all terminator on us, they will provide care services for the elderly, as well as carry out increasingly more industrial tasks. No need to bring in swarms of immigrants, to provide elder care to people they hate.

FWIW, the other reason I’m confident that Japan will adjust to a smaller population is that they are outsourcing a lot of production work to other countries. For instance, they don’t need millions of auto workers living in Japan — they have Americans, Europeans, Chinese, etc. to build the cars. Japan will continue to thrive as a “head-office” economy.

[kearnyirish2]

“Japan will continue to thrive as a “head-office” economy.”

Americans were sold the same lies; now our firms recruit management from Asia.

[imardmd1]

... because human beings are not rational or reasonable or predictable,

This is exactly why we will never be replaced by automatons, whose fatal flaws are.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

Time will tell. For all its many strengths, the USA is also carrying a lot of baggage.

[dennisw]

The worlds biggest lie—— Biggest lie of Free Traitors.

“we are so clever in the US that we’ll take care of the office and financial details while the rest of the world does the grunt work and slaves away for us” “They can have those dirty jobs that we won’t do anymore because they are beneath us!”

Plus the eco-wackos love seeing all our “polluting” factories closed and moving to China/Asia where they are out of sight and out of mind. Except for the CO2 they spew so now the eco-wackos have something new to obsess over with global warming.

[kearnyirish2]

No doubt; we’ve lost our exceptionalism. I guess we outsourced it...

[kearnyirish2]

Yes, American workers are now staring high unemployment and stagnant wages in the face due to these deals. It was bad enough when it ravaged the blue-collar workforce; now it is the turn of white-collar workers.

[1010RD]

How much of this angst is driven by the government school system? They’ve decided to treat everyone the same, killing tech programs in the name of progress. It’s no wonder people are freaking out.