Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login
Will robots steal your job? (slate.com)
1 point by taylorbuley on Sept 26, 2011 | hide | past | favorite | 5 comments



This seems like a very negative and selfish way to think about it. First of all, there is no such thing as "your" job. You have a job because you are efficient and make a positive effect for your company. If you are not, eventually you will be fired (assuming you don't work for yourself). If there is someone that can do your job better, there is a good chance he/she/it can replace you. Ultimately the question should be this: Does having a robot fill this position effectively make society better as a whole for humans? I think part of the reason the idea of robots replacing humans appears so negative is that it compromises our self-worth. However, if I can work less and focus on hobbies and personal projects as a result of a lighter work load, I am all for it. The next question is does this eventually lead to discussions of robo-slavery?


Food and shelter are more than hobbies, and capitalism doesn't make those available to me unless my labor is in demand. Automation is continually raising the bar on how strong, agile, or smart you must be in order to find a niche. We need to redesign the economy to be more humane towards the growing number who can't, before they revolt (since we've ignored all the more noble reasons to do so).


I agree with you, but my idea is that automation makes goods more consistent and readily available, lowering prices. If average human wages are dropping, along with prices of goods/services because of automation, then we are just as well off. If the price of consumption falls faster than human wages, we are better off (from a consumer prospective)


I'm all for automation reducing society's opportunity costs for making stuff. But if the market wage for the median person's labor drops to zero, they will be much worse off, and using wages to ration out the newly abundant goods (as well as living space) isn't going to work. http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm weighs pretty heavily in my thinking as a plausible future, and we're just starting to see the first pebbles of the avalanche as grocery stores replace clerks with vending machines. "Grocery clerk" is a lousy use of human lifetime, but our treatment of the unemployable is currently even worse than that.


I should buy a robot, and then get it hired in my place. Then the robot can make me a bunch of money!




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: