Automation Nation: Will Artificial Intelligence Take Our Jobs? (Video)

A debate on the future of the American economy and the role of intelligent computers and robots. Will rapid technological innovations aid American workers, or will it render large numbers of American workers obsolete?

People have been worrying about the effects of free trade and automation for centuries, and it's wrong to think that it's somehow different this time.

Actually, it is different this time.

Technology changes things.

Always before, there were jobs people could go to. For the first time in human history, we're beginning to face a situation where technology can begin to handle so many different jobs that the prospects for people are starting to look grim.

This will do two things:

First, it will create more wealth, without people having to work for it. That part is good.

But it will also leave people unemployed. That part is bad.

Always before, the right answer to unemployment has been, "Get off your butt and go get a job."

But what if the jobs simply do not exist, because it's cheaper to hire a machine?

In that case, we may be forced into a new, more socialist society.

really? you think quoting a French liberal somehow gives you credence or undermines my point?

I have made these decisions myself. I have hired people to work 60 hrs/wk for an average of $500/month, overseas. domestically, I have hired the contract agencies instead of the American kid, for far less then the employee. I have friends that have bought homes and managed their own L-3s by running the group home.

this is not fanciful. this is fact. in 2000 when billy-bob passed the H1-b visa bill, there were 5m americans in the US. as of last year when last saw the stat, the number was down to 1.5m Americans. the number of visas held are in the millions and the number of jobs off-shored are also most likely in the millions. I was speaking with a guy last week who manages a plant in shezshing (sp?) china. they manufacture smart phones. how many at that location? he said they have 300,000 working in that city. that’s just one company

I can only tell you how it is now. this is not conjecture. explain why anyone would ever hire a person for more the bare wages when there is an endless supply of workers able to be trained

read post #23

if you want American’s to compete more efficiently, then it can be done by improving the people we have, not by undermining them and their families by bringing in cheaper replacements from whatever third world country can provide labor.

funny how these globalists never demand improved American employees

holding Americans to higher standards should definitely be done. going after the schools and demanding they answer for their inability to provide quality employees should be the attack by employers. unfortunately, business is being disingenuous.

using the IT sector as an example, there were 5m Americans in the industry in 2000. the claims were that there were not enough people in the US with the skills needed to do the job. if that were the case, you would expect those 5m people would continue being employed and the visas would work along side them.

unfortunately, that wasn’t even close to the truth. instead, the visas were used to bring people into the US, train up, and ship home to staff shops in other countries. exactly why is there any need for visas in the IT sector these days, as the number of Americans in the IT sector dropped to 1.5m... that implies 3.5m people are available, either immediately or after a short period of training, to staff any open positions new visas are supposed to cover.

(a bit bleary eyed on the iPad first thing in the morning)

what I am saying should be restricted is the flooding of our market with cheap labor (or the push to move those jobs out of the US). doing has, and will continue to crush the ability for Americans to earn a living. not everyone can be a lawyer. we need to think of these positions as valuable resources we’re voluntarily throwing away.

if this trend continues, civil unrest is sure to follow

when I’m running a company, I push to balance financial with the desire to keep the people motivated. in my field, motivation usually means financial coupled with morale. ruthlessly pursuing the cheapest labor will not improve morale. why do I care about morale? because todays junior dev is tomorrows senior... and the future products will be coming from them. balance all the pieces right and they will work in unison to produce product to rival, if not surpass, the leaders in the field

beyond the individual company, the well being/ motivation of the labor pool is vital to insure a healthy crop from which to pick future employees. for DoD, this is crucial. without a vibrant field in the IT/engineering sector to choose from, tomorrows defense products will be at risk... of being developed by our enemies

this is a buyers market where Americans will lose if we allow free trade and open borders for anyone to compete for American jobs.

I didn't notice a </sarc> tag.

You have been here for a over a decade but you have the rhetoric of an OWS hippie that signed on last night. Apparently this forum has not been the least bit instructional or inspirational to you.

First off, the universal claim that this is a "buyers market" is not true for my field where clearly it is a sellers' market as I am pounded daily by many opportunities. So it is better to say that in many market segments, its a buyer's market.

There is no such thing as an "American Job", in the sense that only Americans are worthy enough and are entitled to perform the gig. We once thought that the US Presidency was uniquely and Constitutionally an "American Job" but we have recently discovered that it too can be taken by an illegal alien foreigner.

It is your kind of thinking and sentiment taken to Washington DC that is actually causing this problem and keeping Americans perpetually unemployed. You killed the Golden Goose. It is your fault.

Let us assume that everything you say is true (BTW, its not "almost" seven billion, it "is" seven billion). You admit in an offhand way that American workers essentially are practically interchangeable with illiterate, lazy, incompetent, uninspired and often criminal third worlders. I don't think even the union representatives speak of their members in such derogatory terms. Nonetheless, these fairly worthless individuals are entitled to a bogus category of "American Jobs" as if tightening a screw or delivering a package is somehow uniquely an American task.

Maybe your idea of an "American Job" is similar in every way to a regular job performed by people around the world since the beginning of time - except that the entitled "American Worker" is guaranteed to be well over compensated and allowed incredible latitude in delivering a self-defined quality of service.

Your complaint with "free trade" presupposes that only the US is permitted to export any product and no products are allowed to be imported into the US. That is crazy, and the US has devolved sufficiently that the rest of the world can seriously consider a future life without the US market.

On the other hand, Free Trade is what its name implies (in theory): Individuals, irrespective of locality, can enjoy a relatively unimpeded commercial transaction. If better quality labor and a much reduced price and reliability can be found somewhere other than the united States, then that person should be able to contract that labor without the government intervening.

You obviously despise the Free Market and wish to grant the US Government regulatory powers to prevent otherwise lawful and mutually beneficial trade.

I don't plan to work the rest of my life and I would love to be able to retire comfortably on my investments. This requires me, particularly in a highly inflationary environment, to invest in endeavors that reliably multiply my savings. You have already authorized the government to force me to either pay way over market for worthless labor, automate or flee this predatory government. The first option is clearly contrary to my goals and therefore is not even in consideration.

So basically, you are a greedy thief who wants to use the police powers of the government to force me to either not invest, or to take a haircut so you can be overcompensated and live comfortably off my previous labors. When you and the US government are in league to steal from me, then it is folly to be patriotic to despots and community of thieves. I, and every other freedom loving investor need to seriously consider the fact that hoodlums have taken over this great experiment in Freedom and Liberty and transformed it into a corrupt kleptocracy.

If you want an "American Job" you will need to present to the angel investor (euphemism for "rich person") a reason why he shouldn't find cheaper labor and more favorable business climate elsewhere, or why she shouldn't pour all kinds of money into machinery and software that won't come to work late, stoned, with an attitude, and demanding outrageous compensation with the underlying threat of lawsuit, strike or violence.

The recipe for creating "American Jobs" is to present a capable and affordable workforce in a low drag regulatory and tax environment. Our schools have eliminated the former possibility by at least two generations, and the latter is impossible for as long as people who think like you have the right to vote.

And that is the reason why my phone will continually ring by clients looking for LOB software that will help them eliminate jobs and streamline their businesses. The new "American Job" is one that is found in the "Profit Center" not in the "Cost Center".

all you one-world-government people really need to stop trying to promote yourself as pro-America. at no point in time does it help America or its children to have its companies use labor from dirt poor third world countries.

i am all for competing against products produced in foreign countries... so long as there are tariffs in place devalue using those third world countries as proxy slave production sites.

if we’re going to say it’s ok to produce goods overseas... because it’s only ‘fair’... then why stop there? why am i forced to pay taxes in the US when there are cheaper tax locations overseas? (and no, you cannot just move, as the US demands its tax payments even if you are living year round in another country)

if my kids are forced to live here and work 60% of their lives, currently, to support this socialistic crap... then the least i demand is the ability for myself and my family to be able to produce in an environment without having to compete with slaves or imported individuals with no educational debt and living in the country temporarily.

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