Robots
Funny how Science Fiction heralds Science Fact. An article on the BBC website talks about the predicted growth of robots.
I firmly believe that Robots will herald social upheaval. Time and time again, science fiction authors have pointed to the fact that robots will take human jobs in certain industries. The question that these authors have constantly proposed is how do we handle this change. Robots will further the gap between the haves and have-nots. And this not only applies to Robots, but as we further the concepts of artificial intelligence. I am not a doom sayer, but I think we have to go forward open eyed.
I think the potential for expanding humanity is too great to not advance both robotics and ai. We will conceive and build machines that will allow us to go further than we have ever.
I do have questions about how this will impact us as a race and here are some of my questions.
1. How will Asia adapt to robots? With the largest and fastest growing population on the planet, the nations of Asia are economic powerhouses who could become social powderkegs with large scale displacement of workers.
2. Will the advances in Robotics and AI stall the industrialization of the developing world? The developing world depends on getting cheap manufacturing jobs that the post industrial doesnt want. Sure the startup costs are more than a person, but with the potential for even more productive hours and no labour headaches does it outweigh other concerns.
3. What effect will it have on the immigrant labour population in the Post Industrial World? Immigrants take jobs in our nation that no American would take, but the job needs to be done. What happens to our ability to absorb new immigrants?
4. Since I firmly believe that robots will be huge in the Space industry, what laws will we have to enact to manage the resource harvesting of the solar system? This could also be said for other dangerous resource gathering industries. Robotic fishing trawlers could revolutionize fishing, but what will the impact be on both the fish and on the people displaced out of those industries.
5. How much power over our lives do we give over to machines? Yes, I know this is the Terminator; Colossus and every other AI boogyman question, but I think we have to think about it. What lines do we draw and say that these new creations cannot do this, we must do it as human beings. For an example of how this can be realistic, look at the redistricting that was just completed because of the 2000 census. The parties in power in each of the states had at hand more detailed and accurate information on how to craft and model the districts to ensure that their party will remain in power in ways that have never been possible before.
6. Since robots and ai's will no doubt increase our leisure time as have other "labour saving devices", what will mankind do with this freed up time? We have only to look to the Internet to see how our lives have changed with all the new ways of communication and information gathering/sharing. As we have faster and faster technology, we expect faster and faster results.
I firmly believe that Robots will herald social upheaval. Time and time again, science fiction authors have pointed to the fact that robots will take human jobs in certain industries. The question that these authors have constantly proposed is how do we handle this change. Robots will further the gap between the haves and have-nots. And this not only applies to Robots, but as we further the concepts of artificial intelligence. I am not a doom sayer, but I think we have to go forward open eyed.
I think the potential for expanding humanity is too great to not advance both robotics and ai. We will conceive and build machines that will allow us to go further than we have ever.
I do have questions about how this will impact us as a race and here are some of my questions.
1. How will Asia adapt to robots? With the largest and fastest growing population on the planet, the nations of Asia are economic powerhouses who could become social powderkegs with large scale displacement of workers.
2. Will the advances in Robotics and AI stall the industrialization of the developing world? The developing world depends on getting cheap manufacturing jobs that the post industrial doesnt want. Sure the startup costs are more than a person, but with the potential for even more productive hours and no labour headaches does it outweigh other concerns.
3. What effect will it have on the immigrant labour population in the Post Industrial World? Immigrants take jobs in our nation that no American would take, but the job needs to be done. What happens to our ability to absorb new immigrants?
4. Since I firmly believe that robots will be huge in the Space industry, what laws will we have to enact to manage the resource harvesting of the solar system? This could also be said for other dangerous resource gathering industries. Robotic fishing trawlers could revolutionize fishing, but what will the impact be on both the fish and on the people displaced out of those industries.
5. How much power over our lives do we give over to machines? Yes, I know this is the Terminator; Colossus and every other AI boogyman question, but I think we have to think about it. What lines do we draw and say that these new creations cannot do this, we must do it as human beings. For an example of how this can be realistic, look at the redistricting that was just completed because of the 2000 census. The parties in power in each of the states had at hand more detailed and accurate information on how to craft and model the districts to ensure that their party will remain in power in ways that have never been possible before.
6. Since robots and ai's will no doubt increase our leisure time as have other "labour saving devices", what will mankind do with this freed up time? We have only to look to the Internet to see how our lives have changed with all the new ways of communication and information gathering/sharing. As we have faster and faster technology, we expect faster and faster results.
posted by Sojourner at 8:40 AM
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