

'Rise of the Robots' and 'Shadow Work' - kdazzle
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/books/review/rise-of-the-robots-and-shadow-work.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcore-iphone

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mirimir
> [Martin Ford's] solution is blindingly obvious: As both conservatives and
> liberals have proposed over the years, we need to institute a guaranteed
> annual minimum income, which he suggests should be set at $10,000 a year.
> This is probably not enough, ...

$10,000 per person per year might not seem like much in the US. However,
average minimal living costs will gradually equalize globally, as low-cost
machine labor becomes ubiquitous.

> ... and of course no amount of money can compensate for the loss of
> meaningful engagement.

I don't get that. Neither the "work or starve" nor "work is holy" ethics have
ever appealed to me. I like to play. While I've managed to get paid for it,
I'm not convinced that it's essential. If I had taken the academic path, it
would have been less relevant.

I'm also inspired by post-Singularity fiction, most recently 'Diaspora' by
Greg Egan. I don't recall that the concept of "money" occurs in the book.

~~~
aaron695
> I don't get that. Neither the "work or starve" nor "work is holy" ethics
> have ever appealed to me. I like to play.

I think you are failing to see robots will also take away play.

Why garden, make things from wood, sew, knit, cook when they are close to free
and better quality to buy.

Why learn instruments, program, make art when a robot is so much better.

Will reading be as fun when you have a millions of books specifically tailored
to you by robots.

Will travel have value when it's easy and cheap? Compound this with the fact
the world will become much more homogeneous at national levels.

Yes people will still have hobbies, but when they are needed to give you self
worth, which is what work currently does, I don't think it will be enough.

~~~
mirimir
Some people may react as you say. But many people will choose augmentation,
and will arguably be just as capable as non-meat machines. And they'll always
(or at least, for a while) have innate capabilities that provide advantages of
various sorts.

