The Robots are Coming!

[leo-rcc]

I agree that a lot of the tedious repetitive tasks associated with low paying jobs will eventually be done by robots. Looking at it form the perspective of the employer, I too would prefer a robot that does its job without all the drawbacks of human labour. It does mean that other jobs are becoming available, like installation and maintenance of robots and programming them (which is not that hard, any person can do that with a little bit of training) but that still will not cover all the persons that will be out of a job. When in the past you could say "Well we can always go and flip burgers for the clown" even that is going to be less and less a certainty.

Like it or not, and I know it sucks for those who are not qualified or able to get different jobs, it is not the responsibility of a business to provide jobs. Jobs are born out of necessity, if there is no need for that job, a business owner will not risk his bottom line to provide one.

[Mister Agenda]

At least it's a problem we can see coming. I've heard a prediction of general-purpose robots down to $1,000 in today's money by 2050. If even poor people can afford their own robot, maybe the problem takes care of itself? That is, we all become robot owners and have them slave all day to keep us in food, clothing, shelter, and entertainment; even if they have to make it 'by hand' for us. In this scenario, even poor people don't have to work to generate the resources they need for necessities and a little luxury.

[Nebuloso]

I would suggest the solution be education. We are going to need large teams of people to develop this technology. I think while this kind of technology will take away jobs from people it will also open up more jobs in other departments.