Reply to: Interesting article

[Spacecadet]

And exactly how do you expect that would help maintain IT contractors jobs?

duh, Become a mentat

[vetran]

Will these do instead?

and to sell

http://cdn2.holytaco.com/wp-content/...ng_image42.jpg

[Mich the Tester]

It links on to a Grauniad article which says "Moshe Vardi, a computer scientist at Rice University, asks if we are ready for a world in which half the adult population does not work. "

Well Moshe, it's already like that in western Europe and no, we aren't ready for it.

[Mich the Tester]

That Zeroth Law is a real problem.

I might need a while to think about this, but I sort of see the problem.

[Mich the Tester]

Would robots be able to have their morals lowered enough to work with pimps?

Dunno, but I know a chappy who studied philosophy and then computer science and he's researching decision systems that involve turning various philosophers' ideas into algorithms for his PhD. He's a bit loopy, so the decisions might be scary.

[Old Hack]

Very interesting article. Thanks for the link.

OH, you'd better build an effing big wall around your small-holding, come the revolution!

I have often thought about what I would do were this to actually happen, and I think you’d have to agree to some sort of collective, in order to stay safe.

Certainly glad I have a couple of guns...

[Old Hack]

Would robots be able to have their morals lowered enough to work with pimps?

[Platypus]

Very interesting article. Thanks for the link.

OH, you'd better build an effing big wall around your small-holding, come the revolution!

[Old Greg]

I am not worried. Just as happy taking my 20% from robots. In fact they are probably more interesting than contractors over lunch... anyone for oil??

They probably are more interesting, but you may struggle to extract your cheap Chinese meal and fag money before doing a bunk out of the ladies' toilet window.

[Mich the Tester]

You're safe. Nobody is developing robotic leeches

Thanks, I'm off to get rich on that idea.

[doodab]

I am not worried. Just as happy taking my 20% from robots. In fact they are probably more interesting than contractors over lunch... anyone for oil??

You're safe. Nobody is developing robotic leeches

[DodgyAgent]

I am not worried. Just as happy taking my 20% from robots. In fact they are probably more interesting than contractors over lunch... anyone for oil??

[Mich the Tester]

I went to an exhibition of clientco's products yesterday; lots of stuff like airport baggage systems, industrial conveyor systems, package sorting, robots and so on. It made it pretty clear to me that the future for low skilled manual workers looks very bleak indeed, and even the mid range skills are threatened; before long it'll take one bloke monitoring a screen remotely plus one guy in customs and one labourer to pick up anything that falls off machines (not much) to run all the baggage for a whole airport. Even the job of the guys who put irregular shaped bags in containers is going to be lost. I'm already learning a bit about industrial automation (PLC and so on) and I think that will have quite a big future and basically wipe out a lot of jobs. Glad to be getting some industrial automation experience now.

[doodab]

I do think that the current capitalism will implode. It actually requires the majority of people to have money in order to consume, so it's fairly obvious that the redistribution of wealth to the wealthy that valuing capital over labour causes is unsustainable.

I'd also suggest that, considering capital as a commodity, the concentration of capital leads to a virtual cartel which means it's artificially overpriced.

[Old Hack]

This may sound tin foil hat material, but the reason for the purchase of the small holding, and the reason we’ve been rearing, and killing, turkeys for a couple of years, is that I didn’t know if I could do it. I worried, that if it all did go tits up in the world, I’d last about a week without electricity and shops. Glad I have proven I can kill, gut, pluck and cook anything, as I think it may be a skill that returns. I can shoot, skin and gut most animals now and once we’re less reliant on the grid for power, and we can grow enough veggies, rear enough animals, I’ll be a lot happier; whilst that article was quite bleak in parts, I actually thought it a good read.

I’ll be much happier once the family can do it.