22-10-2004 15:14									#1
	Robots stealing our jobs! Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.a...7&Cr=robot&Cr1=

quote: 0 October 2004 – The chances of having an obedient robot do unwelcome or dangerous jobs have increased tremendously, with orders for industrial robots rising to a record 18 per cent in the first half of this year, a new report co-sponsored by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) says. In the home, by the end of 2003, about 610,000 autonomous vacuum cleaners and lawn-mowers were in operation, the report says. Between 2004 and 2007, more than 4 million new units could be added, it adds. The survey, called World Robotics 2004 and produced by the ECE and the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), says the prices of the robots in proportion to human labour costs has fallen from 100 in 1990 to 15 for "radically improved robots" in Germany and to 12 of similarly high quality in North America. The report was produced for a conference at the UN complex in Geneva today called "A Robot in Every Home?" accompanied by a robot exhibition on the lawn there. "Falling or stable robot prices, increasing labour costs and continuously improved technology are major driving forces which speak for continued massive robot investment in industry," says Jan Karlsson, who is responsible for the annual survey. Right now Japan uses about 320 robots of all sorts per 10,000 employees, while Germany uses 148 industrial robots per 10,000 robots, Italy 116, Sweden 99 and between 50 and 80 each in the United States, Finland, France, Spain, Austria, Denmark and Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. In the car industry, there is one robot per 10 workers in Japan, Italy and Germany, it says. Among the service robots, "medical robots, underwater robots, surveillance robots, demolition robots and many other types of robots for carrying out a multitude of tasks are doing very well," the report says. In the long run, service robots will be everyday tools for mankind, the ECE and IFR say. "They will not only clean our floors, mow our lawns and guard our homes but they will also assist old and handicapped people with sophisticated interactive equipment, carry out surgery, inspect pipes and sites that are hazardous to people, fight fire and bombs and be used in many other applications."

	22-10-2004 16:48									#2
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so then what do people do for work if there are no service industry jobs?

COMMUNISM!

	22-10-2004 16:50									#3
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It's OK

This is meant to happen, it will suck, it will be rocky, but in the end, robots will do everything, and we will have the choice to do what we want.

	22-10-2004 17:12									#4
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Well it is nice that we can get robots to do the crap jobs so we don't have to do them, freeing up talent and human resources. Will this be what happened under current social organisation? No, it will be used to squeeze further concessions out of the worker, as they can be 'replaced by a robot'...

	22-10-2004 17:25									#5
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

There will be no purpose for stupid people anymore: they will be terminated to prevent waste of precious resources and food.

	22-10-2004 17:39									#6
	Put an end to popups!

I saw/read (I forget which) a sci-fi story where robots did all of the work. The humans couldn't figure out how to fairly distribute all of the goods produced by the robots, so they all started doing useless labor (like double-checking calculations performed by the robots), and the humans who did the most useless labor got the most stuff.

However, I also saw/read another sci-fi story where robots did all of the work, so humans sat around on their asses all day getting drunk and watching TV.

	22-10-2004 17:41									#7
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Anyone read "the machine stops"?

	22-10-2004 18:20									#8
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They took our jobs!!!

/SouthPark

	22-10-2004 18:42									#9
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quote: There will be no purpose for stupid people anymore: they will be terminated to prevent waste of precious resources and food.

OMG I hope you are still alive!!!

	22-10-2004 18:43									#10
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

quote: Originally posted by Trajanus There will be no purpose for stupid people anymore: they will be terminated to prevent waste of precious resources and food.

Corrected typos.

	22-10-2004 18:47									#11
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quote: Originally posted by loinburger I saw/read (I forget which) a sci-fi story where robots did all of the work. The humans couldn't figure out how to fairly distribute all of the goods produced by the robots, so they all started doing useless labor (like double-checking calculations performed by the robots), and the humans who did the most useless labor got the most stuff. However, I also saw/read another sci-fi story where robots did all of the work, so humans sat around on their asses all day getting drunk and watching TV.

Nah, won't happen people will always think up of more crap that they want. If robots become that advanced the demand for hand-crafted goods will probably sky-rocket.

	22-10-2004 18:48									#12
	Increase Your PM Length

[jamaican accent]
Yeah man, me is lying on these sunny beaches while them robots do all the work, man !!!

	22-10-2004 18:53									#13
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It's seriously easy-going

	22-10-2004 18:59									#14
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It's far more likely that if we can all be replaced with robot labor, most of us will be thrown to the wolves.

	22-10-2004 19:14									#15
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quote: Originally posted by Provost Harrison Well it is nice that we can get robots to do the crap jobs so we don't have to do them, freeing up talent and human resources. Will this be what happened under current social organisation? No, it will be used to squeeze further concessions out of the worker, as they can be 'replaced by a robot'...

Why bother getting concessions from workers if you can replace them by a robot for cheaper?

	22-10-2004 19:18									#16
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quote: Originally posted by MRT144 so then what do people do for work if there are no service industry jobs? COMMUNISM!

Buy a robot and have the robot do the work while you retire to some place tropical.

	22-10-2004 19:22									#17
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quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker Why bother getting concessions from workers if you can replace them by a robot for cheaper?

It's also nice that robots don't ask for health care, family days off, sick days, retirement pensions, or unemployment when you can them.

Seriously, this is nothing new. Mechinization of labor jobs was a huge issue in Victorian times. People survived just fine though job patterns changed.

	22-10-2004 19:33									#18
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don't worry. When Kerry is elected president, he will give tax breaks to companies to hire human workers over robot workers.

Kerry will protect our jobs!

	22-10-2004 20:05									#19
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara It's far more likely that if we can all be replaced with robot labor, most of us will be thrown to the wolves.

They will have to be robotic wolves, since we killed all the real ones.

	22-10-2004 20:21									#20
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Idealy this should be a good thing isn't it? I mean this is how people were free to pursue arts and science and all that good stuff in the first place. Higher productivity and more leisure times I mean.

	22-10-2004 20:32									#21
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quote: Originally posted by pchang They will have to be robotic wolves, since we killed all the real ones.

Oh they will be, they will be.

	22-10-2004 20:33									#22
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quote: Originally posted by Snowflake Idealy this should be a good thing isn't it? I mean this is how people were free to pursue arts and science and all that good stuff in the first place. Higher productivity and more leisure times I mean.

Only if used for the benefit of humanity. What do you think the odds of that happening are?

	22-10-2004 20:37									#23
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quote: Originally posted by MRT144 so then what do people do for work if there are no service industry jobs? COMMUNISM!

Alternatively, crime.

	22-10-2004 20:38									#24
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara Only if used for the benefit of humanity. What do you think the odds of that happening are?

Exactly the same thing has been happening ever since people started making tools. Labor-saving devices have NEVER caused problems except in the very short run.

	22-10-2004 20:38									#25
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if robots do most of our jobs, and we don't create new ones, we have no choice but to go to socialism. In that case, I might actually support it. It'd be like star trek

	22-10-2004 20:39									#26
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quote: Originally posted by chegitz guevara Only if used for the benefit of humanity. What do you think the odds of that happening are?

History always proceeds forward, no matter how hard and complicated it could be and how many set backs we might encounter.

	22-10-2004 20:46									#27
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Listen to Uncle Sam!

Attachment: unclesam.jpg
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	22-10-2004 20:47									#28
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quote: Originally posted by Kuciwalker Exactly the same thing has been happening ever since people started making tools. Labor-saving devices have NEVER caused problems except in the very short run.

We're talking about the complete elimination of labor, not merely labor saving devices. When humans are no longer involved in the role of production, then our only jobs will be to sell each other stuff, and that too can be handled by machines. So what do we do for money, just move things around?

	22-10-2004 20:49									#29
	Increase Your PM Length

No, we will create new things.

	22-10-2004 20:50									#30
	Suffering from ads?

Only if the rich want them or we get rid of the rich.