Here it is. My next prediction. I do not plan on these. They just happen.
People today worship technology. I love technology, myself. However, we are going too far in many areas.
For more than a century, we have been creating new technologies which increase productivity. The down side to that is that it decreases employment.
I am not going to go over all the advances we have made in the last 150 years. I'll give anyone reading this credit for having some grasp of that knowledge.
This is about today and the future.
More and more jobs continue to be eliminated by technology.
Grocery stores are going further and further to self-check out lines. Most grocery stores now have them.
Now fast food places are going the same route, installing touch screens to order food. Chili's has such a system. You get shown to your table and then order your food on a screen. Your food is delivered later. I did not know this when I went there once. The guy who brought my food looked like a busboy. No actual waiters or waitresses.
While on vacation, daughter and I saw the first McDonald's with a touch screen system to order. I refused to use it because I know the long term effects of eliminating jobs.
Meanwhile, Carl's Jr has announced plans to go entirely to touch screen systems.
Most fast food could be rather easily transitioned to robotic systems, including cooking. I will say it would probably be more accurate but that's not the point.
Some people seem to not be worried about it. They think their jobs are secure. That's funny because auto and steel industry workers thought the same thing back in the 70's. Not so much any more. Virtually NO steel is produced here in the US now. It all comes from China. Auto manufacturing jobs are done by robots and most in other countries.
I had a conversation with someone about doctors, lawyers, etc. I brought up the fact that if nobody has a job, how would the doctors and lawyers get paid? If they cannot get paid because nobody else is employed, their jobs cease to exist as well.
I am not a Luddite by any means at all. However, what we need soon is legislation which limits technology when it eliminates jobs. I have no expectation that such legislation is coming any time soon, if ever.
So, what happens when robots replace us? Not much that's good. People go hungry, become homeless and desperate. Crime, especially property and violent crime, increase dramatically. Depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders increase exponentially. Some crime simply out of boredom will happen but mostly it will be desperation and lack of motivation or purpose.
The only other option would be going to full Communism. Where everyone has an equal income, regardless of employment status. That will not happen here either. Probably not in my lifetime, at least.
So, we are coming to a very, very dark era in human history. Personally, I see nothing to do to stop it.
People today worship technology. I love technology, myself. However, we are going too far in many areas.
For more than a century, we have been creating new technologies which increase productivity. The down side to that is that it decreases employment.
I am not going to go over all the advances we have made in the last 150 years. I'll give anyone reading this credit for having some grasp of that knowledge.
This is about today and the future.
More and more jobs continue to be eliminated by technology.
Grocery stores are going further and further to self-check out lines. Most grocery stores now have them.
Now fast food places are going the same route, installing touch screens to order food. Chili's has such a system. You get shown to your table and then order your food on a screen. Your food is delivered later. I did not know this when I went there once. The guy who brought my food looked like a busboy. No actual waiters or waitresses.
While on vacation, daughter and I saw the first McDonald's with a touch screen system to order. I refused to use it because I know the long term effects of eliminating jobs.
Meanwhile, Carl's Jr has announced plans to go entirely to touch screen systems.
Most fast food could be rather easily transitioned to robotic systems, including cooking. I will say it would probably be more accurate but that's not the point.
Some people seem to not be worried about it. They think their jobs are secure. That's funny because auto and steel industry workers thought the same thing back in the 70's. Not so much any more. Virtually NO steel is produced here in the US now. It all comes from China. Auto manufacturing jobs are done by robots and most in other countries.
I had a conversation with someone about doctors, lawyers, etc. I brought up the fact that if nobody has a job, how would the doctors and lawyers get paid? If they cannot get paid because nobody else is employed, their jobs cease to exist as well.
I am not a Luddite by any means at all. However, what we need soon is legislation which limits technology when it eliminates jobs. I have no expectation that such legislation is coming any time soon, if ever.
So, what happens when robots replace us? Not much that's good. People go hungry, become homeless and desperate. Crime, especially property and violent crime, increase dramatically. Depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders increase exponentially. Some crime simply out of boredom will happen but mostly it will be desperation and lack of motivation or purpose.
The only other option would be going to full Communism. Where everyone has an equal income, regardless of employment status. That will not happen here either. Probably not in my lifetime, at least.
So, we are coming to a very, very dark era in human history. Personally, I see nothing to do to stop it.
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