Told Ya

[kham]

Flippy, the hamburger cooking robot, gets its first restaurant gig

Now, get going that droid Flo from AOTC, and I am sold

[Mynock]

That's what $15/hr looks like. With modern tech you could pretty much automate an entire McDonalds if you wanted to and demands from the workers for outrageous salaries are going to make it cost effective.

[Regisblb]

.... and that's why we need universal basic income. Let the robots do the work.

[Fred588]

That's what $15/hr looks like. With modern tech you could pretty much automate an entire McDonalds if you wanted to and demands from the workers for outrageous salaries are going to make it cost effective.

The owner of a business has an obligation to do things that will minimize cost, regardless of the minimum wage. The argument that introducing automation, therefore, only holds water if it is cheaper, overall, than paying wages regardless of what those wages are. Bear in mind, however, that turning your franchise into a vending machine is pretty risky with respect to what the customers will tolerate.

I am well aware that this entire thread is in violation of the no politics rule insofar as I understand that rule, so I will be neither surprised nor upset when the thread is locked or vaporized.

[Duncan Edwards]

...turning your franchise into a vending machine is pretty risky with respect to what the customers will tolerate.

Very true but I've been to more than a few places where taking people out of the equation would be an improvement. I think the overall death of courtesy and civility in every day life will hasten things like this as much as the cost. There are other improvements that automation brings as well. We live in a multilingual society now so the ability to change languages would sure be handy. My local Auto Zone has several Spanish speakers behind the counter and today a machine can't misunderstand me any worse than they do. Staying open 24 hrs? Holidays? And the biggest cost savings is going to come from not being required to pay for health insurance. Technology has improved to the point that it solves more issues than just minimum wage.

This is nothing new it's just the steady progress of automation into things that we previously thought only a human could do. In the next few years you will see self driving taxis, ride sharing, long haul trucks, pizza delivery, etc. The only real solution is to keep your education and resume current or join the Amish.

[Fred588]

...turning your franchise into a vending machine is pretty risky with respect to what the customers will tolerate.

Very true but I've been to more than a few places where taking people out of the equation would be an improvement. I think the overall death of courtesy and civility in every day life will hasten things like this as much as the cost. There are other improvements that automation brings as well. We live in a multilingual society now so the ability to change languages would sure be handy. My local Auto Zone has several Spanish speakers behind the counter and today a machine can't misunderstand me any worse than they do. Staying open 24 hrs? Holidays? And the biggest cost savings is going to come from not being required to pay for health insurance. Technology has improved to the point that it solves more issues than just minimum wage.

This is nothing new it's just the steady progress of automation into things that we previously thought only a human could do. In the next few years you will see self driving taxis, ride sharing, long haul trucks, pizza delivery, etc. The only real solution is to keep your education and resume current or join the Amish.

Indeed, automation is certainly not a new phenomenon and fear of it is just as old. As a retired academic I certainly agree about the importance of education. As for the resume, well,... up to retirement anyway. I don't think anyone cares if I have a doctorate or not now.

[Mynock]

My humble opinion is that the robot threat is overblown. Everybody thought the car was going to put thousands of people out of work, all it did was turn blacksmiths into machinists and Farriers into tire makers. At the end of the day you still have to have somebody making the stuff that makes our lives easier.

If you really want to get philosophical I'd rather argue over how easy our lives really are.

How many hours do you work a week compared to your grandfather, or great grandfather? I can guarantee you they worked way harder than the average Caveman, who only "worked" about 14 hours a week.

And yet here I sit, all advanced and civilized and shit, with my smartphone and my internet and all my modern "time saving" devices, working three times that (minimum, usually more) to make ends meet.