Posted on 01/26/2015 7:22:08 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The world’s first robotized sales assistants were rolled out last month in California. They are nifty, cute — and terrifying.
Nicknamed OSHbots, the two machines cost $50,000 apiece, are five feet of plastic on wheels and carry built-in natural language processors, computers, product scanners and navigation tools.
Named after the Orchard Supply Hardware store where they work in San Jose, they greet customers, ask if they need help, identify items, then offer to guide them to the appropriate aisle without bumping into anyone or anything.
At night, they do inventory by cruising the store to identify missing products and update their store map. The OSHbots will never ask for a raise or call in sick. They also have the recall of a National Merit Scholar, but, on the other hand, they can’t open a box or climb a ladder to reach a hammer. And if you went up to one and shouted “fire,” it would respond that “fire extinguishers are on aisle 4 and I can take you there” . . . in English or Spanish.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
The age of automation will be transformational. We need to rethink our current industrial age models on labor and capital. Futurists have discussed the acceleration of automation because capital gets cheaper and cheaper while labor stagnates. Even the guys in China and India will be displaced by lights-out robot factories. Eventually the capitalists are the last man standing with no one else having the means to purchase their goods, they scale up productivity and profit and efficiency, but they have no consumers. This means prices plummet in a race to the bottom looking for buyers. That is the future that has got people stumped. How do you create a viable economy under these conditions?
Star Trek shows an utopian society where the replicator can crank out any need an individual has, so what motivates them to participate and do something in society? We are heading that direction.
“And our children will live, Mr Beale, to see that ... perfect ... world in which there is no war nor famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company for whom all men will work to serve a common profit. In which all men will hold a share of stock.” - Arthur Jensen (Network)
I predict bubble gum graffiti in their future.
For a moment, I thought it was Debbie Wasserman-Schultz’s new job,
...
The store she likes to protest, Hobby Lobby, pays its employees very well compared to other stores.
You can if you lease instead of buy.
They’ll pick the robots. They’re cheaper. Because they aren’t replacing 1 $15/hr person, they’re replacing at least 3, possibly as many as 7 (that’s how many people it takes to man 1 position 24/7 through sick/ vacation without anybody working OT). It winds up cheaper in the first year, before you even add things like shrinkage (number 1 perpetrator of retail theft is the employees), union troubles, OSHA, FICA... People are very expensive. Sure you don’t do a total replacement right from the start, you bring in 1 or 2 and make sure they work, but in relatively short order you’ll find employees are an avoidable PITA.
“They cost $50,000 apiece. When you add the cost of maintenance, software upgrades, repairs, etc. I think it will be quite some time before the minimum-wage workforce has much to worry about.”
But these Bots understand and speak English.
No. All US jobs are in retail. All robots are built and maintained by other robots.
Roborepairman, Robooiler, Robocop, Roboshrink, Robocoewriter,. Etc.
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.
This makes a nice legend, but I don't think even Henry Ford ("History is bunk!") was ignorant enough of economics to say it. He paid above-average wages to hire and keep skilled workers.
It should be obvious that the workers in a factory cannot possibly buy up the entire output of the factory, no matter how much they are paid. Some of the money flowing in the front door from sales has to go out the back door to pay suppliers, pay for utilities, pay interest on debt, and pay taxes, not to mention paying the shareholders if there is anything left for profit. Paying what's needed to attract and hold the skills you need in your work force makes sense. Other than that, you want OTHER employers to pay THEIR workers enough to afford YOUR products, since most of your sales will be to people who are employed by some other company.
“If the question here is $15/hr. wage”
that’s probably not the real deal breaker. the deal breakers are obamacare, unemployment insurance, state and federal labor departments, osha inspections, harassment and sexual discrimination lawsuits, wildcat strikes, tax withholding, noshows, scheduling, etc. Multiply that times, say, 30 employees for a McD’s compared to a dropin food factory, and the food factory might look pretty good, especially in the kommie states like Kali, Ill or Mass.
Self-service espresso shops look like nobrainers, though.
A glut of labor often leads to large projects becoming cost effective.
According to my understanding of market economics, an oversupply of labor will drive the cost of such labor down. While governments may try to artificially prop up wages with minimum wage laws and welfare programs, the market will eventually compensate (through inflation generally) and restore balance.
We have no idea what the jobs of tomorrow will be. Could you imaging explaining a web page developer to someone 50 years ago?
Hah. My job is safe since I’ve turned pro at inspecting rectal thermometers. Until they invent an artificial anus my only competition is in Congress.
Yes. Tired of that silly legend.
Still go to the library to check out the younger librarians. Love ATM’s but prefer looking at the female tellers. My last major purchase was a fiddle (buy one of those online if you dare). 3 of the 4 self checkout lanes at Safeway today were down with computer problems and, besides, I like checking out the female checkout clerks, I don’t place stock orders. Love using GPS but would prefer having a beautiful female human beside me reading me directions from a map.
Just saying....
Of course. You’re welcome to go to the hardware store and get your screws from a machine. Me..., well..., see above....
Exhibit 'A' .... the Pyramids.
And, to your point about the jobs of tomorrow. Absolutely correct. I'm in IT, and what I'm working on today, wasn't even dreamed of 20 years ago.
Though, I think that "Web Developer" would be pretty easy to explain - "It's a person who maintains a library of information on a computer so that others with computers may access it." Of course, the thought that you'd have a computer in your pocket would be a foreign idea, so maybe not.
Nope, I think the ones that people from 50 years ago would have trouble with are things like "Barista" (You pay how much for a cup of coffee?!! And what's a 'Venti'?) or "Pet Therapist" (????) or "Community Organizer".
:-)
The potential game changer with robots and 3D printers, especially in this world of government interference, is that it’s entirely possible that labor costs cannot fall enough to compete. We’re seeing that with this robot, it’s not competing with $40/hr+ skill manufacturers, it’s competing with minimum wage clerks. These folks can’t get much cheaper, not in a way that allows them to keep a roof over their heads and doesn’t put the employer in violation of the law.
My first personal computer $5,200....2nd - $1500....3rd - $1200....today you can get a pc for $300, even $150.
$50,000 for a robot now and $4000 in a few years.
A robot will replace how many humans for a corporation 3...5...10? ... and work 24 hrs a day...that is 9...15 ...or 30 workers salaries, pensions etc gone. Profits will soar and robots will be everywhere.
Maybe profits as a percentage of overall revenue generation will soar at least for a time (competition will eventually lower the margins to near a baseline of zero especially as these devices get cheaper, or human nature rears its ugly head and limits the application of such devices [such as theft, violence against the machine, etc.]). But when people in general have far fewer jobs available, the welfare state eventually runs out of steam to create an endless stream of revenue to cover costs which it cannot even due now, what kind of purchasing power will anyone except a small percentage of the population have to buy? That will ultimately lower their profits over time even though they may see a soaring profit margin. Its a catch 22, where the law of economics and human nature will catch up with this movement just as it has caught up with all the outsourcing that occurred for 50 years in this country. It has run its course, and now to some small extent some of that High tech manufacturing is returning here, all be it being highly automated. It is being automated in China now, just look at FoxCon announcement since labor is now impacting the bottom line once again. This is just the latest fashion craze of the business world to remain solvent. Many of these business will not be able to generate the revenues to pay the bill necessary to remain in business as this moves forward. It will start with the little guy first (as it has been happening for a while), and progrees up the ladder.
Normally people would adapt to such a changing environment and become more innovative, independent, more reliable, grounded in facts, etc. But not with this culture around the world. More government, more feelings than thought, off loading responsibility to government which is appealing and of course enticed by the hollow promises of politicians who really just want to control them. A number of problems all coming together nearly at the same time, all of which has been made possible by people who have thrown away moral standards, God, patience, and just about anything good that helped make civilization a better place to live and strive for. We are in uncharted waters, and things are going to get worse unless the culture itself changes for the better which I will not hold my breath for a long while.
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