Mechanization

AshleyO · 09-14-2012, 01:20 PM

This is something I've been thinking about recently.

Robotics are becoming ever more increasingly important.

From the computer to striker drones in the middle east, robotics seem to be able to replace the human element in production.

They can run nearly 24/7 and with innovations in fuel efficiency and new forms of energy tapping, it's conceivable that even the US and many other nations may even be able to wage war without one human boot on the ground.

But ignoring the nasty implications of mechanization, I've been curious as to what it means for those who do other jobs in the world such as a factory worker, a farm hand, a janitor, ect.

With enough robotic know how, many of these jobs can be replaced. Robots that could be programmed to sweep and mop a floor with the right measurements and coordinates of a room could do the job of several janitors for example.

So where does this leave billions and billions of humans in the industrial and productive aspects of economics? What does the human do when machines end up doing almost everything?

Something I was just thinking about lately. We're not yet at that level of technology; but we're getting there. Hell, there's cars that drive themselves now and the US is experimenting with strike drones that I can imagine would mean we'd need less warm bodies in boots to even wage war anymore.

Murder.Of.Crows · 09-14-2012, 01:43 PM

Actually, I've been thinking about the same thing recently. Either we need to completely come up with a new system. Or the only jobs left will be business management. Which will need less individuals as is. The 1% won't just be the richest, they'll be the only ones with jobs. We're a bit off but, it is something that is relatively close to happening.

Versus · 09-14-2012, 06:34 PM

Hah. I thought you wanted to talk about the evolution of supporting and combined arms to keep tactical and operational tempo with the fire and maneuver of armored units since their conception after world war one.

Boy, was I mistaken.

Saya · 09-14-2012, 06:48 PM

I think its certainly an argument to revolutionize the economy. With all that techonology has given us I don't think its too out there to say that if we didn't live in a capitalist system, many of us wouldn't have to work to the bone like we do. We wouldn't have to work so many hours just to make ends meet. When robots become more efficient and certainly once AI is created, many of our unskilled work will be obsolete. Even things very vital to our survival like farming could have robots doing the backbreaking work. They'll need maintenance but that's "skilled" labour. So what happens to the unskilled labour market?

The very rich will have to find new arguments for their decadence.

MechaSaya · 09-14-2012, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saya

I think its certainly an argument to revolutionize the economy. With all that techonology has given us I don't think its too out there to say that if we didn't live in a capitalist system, many of us wouldn't have to work to the bone like we do. We wouldn't have to work so many hours just to make ends meet. When robots become more efficient and certainly once AI is created, many of our unskilled work will be obsolete. Even things very vital to our survival like farming could have robots doing the backbreaking work. They'll need maintenance but that's "skilled" labour. So what happens to the unskilled labour market?

The very rich will have to find new arguments for their decadence.

Right. Because A.I. aren't suitable for intellectual pursuits. They were made for unskilled labor. Hell, they aren't even people.

Fuck all.

AshleyO · 09-14-2012, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saya

I think its certainly an argument to revolutionize the economy. With all that techonology has given us I don't think its too out there to say that if we didn't live in a capitalist system, many of us wouldn't have to work to the bone like we do. We wouldn't have to work so many hours just to make ends meet. When robots become more efficient and certainly once AI is created, many of our unskilled work will be obsolete. Even things very vital to our survival like farming could have robots doing the backbreaking work. They'll need maintenance but that's "skilled" labour. So what happens to the unskilled labour market?

The very rich will have to find new arguments for their decadence.

Exactly. With the growing of technology; unskilled labor is becoming obsolete NOW and not only that, specialization will be the new working class. However, specialization will saturate the market to such a degree that there will be no shortage of specialized workers. For a specialized job of one person, it will soon become the job of 100 people.

What I think this means is that division of labor will be done via duties. Due to the fact that our sole means of production will be to maintain the integrity of the machines; mostly everyone will be left with literally minutes of work per week.

There would also be no reason for capitalism at this time. There's no way to justify it. It would be nakedly arbitrary. Everyone would be so specialized that it'd be ludicrous to even pay people for the paltry hour of duty work they would have per week.

Resources would have to fall within the common property realm. Food, medicine, crowd sourced education, streamlined tech schools that would teach you your one duty, power/electricity, transportation, housing... the list goes on and on. There would be no reason at all to privatize these things and sequester them off to certain people. This mechanized market COULDN'T base itself off of time and labor. It'd be crazy to do so.

Frankly, I think we could get to a world where people really are left to their own devices to invent new work or what Alan mentioned as erotic labor. Perhaps with an army of robot slaves, there would be no reason for barter or bargaining. We would have to find new ways to occupy our time and energy.

Saya · 09-14-2012, 07:49 PM

Combine that with the public sphere that is the internet, technology can mean really exciting things for humanity if we use it in the right way.

The social science academic in me can't wait to study the reaction to AI we'll have. Will conservatives hate it and try to prevent it from happening? Will new religions and cultures try to create separate societies free from technology, like the Amish do now? A guy I know in the masters program is doing his research on Christian apocalyptic scripture and technological singularity, its a good time for us who study religion and modern society.

AshleyO · 09-14-2012, 07:53 PM

What excites me the most is that almost all knowledge in this hypothetical world will become elective and erotic knowledge.

There's something fascinating and exciting to think that you really WOULD enroll in school just to learn an art because you had literally nothing better to do.

All art would have to be free and crowdsourced as well. It would be an incredible time I'm sure.

Versus · 09-18-2012, 07:28 AM

You know, I suspect that at that time society as a whole would shift to hedonism. I don't know. Just seems to be a popular thing for people who are too wealthy to have to work.

AshleyO · 09-18-2012, 09:13 AM

Yeah. I bet there would be a lot of hedonism.

Saya · 09-18-2012, 06:21 PM

You'll have to take into consideration what else we can expect in the 2020s, lets say, when this might happen. We're still environmentally fucked, are we going to have the resources to be hedonistic?

Versus · 09-18-2012, 06:23 PM

That's a good point. I suppose we would be more concerned about starving considering food comes from oil.