White House: Robots may take half of our jobs, and we should embrace it

[Brian4Liberty]

White House: Robots may take half of our jobs, and we should embrace it

Artificial intelligence is coming, and policymakers need to prepare the economy for it, the White House said in a report released Wednesday.

The report, “Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and the Economy,” suggests the U.S. should invest in and develop AI, because it has “many benefits,” education and train Americans for the jobs of the future, and aid workers in the transition and empower them to share in future growth.
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Still, the authors see a role for government in advancing AI through research and development, such as in cyberdefense. The government should also encourage diversity and inclusion in so-called STEM fields, and promote policies that promote competition between private-sector firms working on these types of advancements.
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And, the authors write, policymakers should aid workers with the transition to an AI-dominated economy by investing in social-safety net programs like Medicaid, food stamps, and retirement programs. For Americans who are immediately impacted, policymakers should strengthen unemployment insurance and job creation programs.
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More: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/wh...-our-jobs-and-we-should-embrace-it-2016-12-21

 

[Brian4Liberty]

No worries. The "policymaker" geniuses will save us with MIC spending, EBT cards and diversity.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Automation has been growing for over a century. We can't stop it. One report on the possibility of Trump getting Foxconn to move jobs from China to here what we would get is a handful of supervisors overseeing robots producing the phone parts meaning it won't really add jobs here.

 

[TheTexan]

Maybe we just need a 120k UBI

In addition to free healthcare and free education and free cable TV obviously

 

[Dr.No.]

Maybe we just need a 120k UBI

In addition to free healthcare and free education and free cable TV obviously

With the implementation of AI, and more technological advances that make data transmitting and package transport efficient and cheap, this actually wouldn't be a big deal. The prices of things would drop tremendously as labor costs shrink. Universal healthcare at that point would be incredibly cheap.

The major hurdle coming forwards is the living space issue. If technology can find some way to invent virtual homes, we'd be all set.

 

[Superfluous Man]

Sadly, I'm pretty sure there are longtime members of this website who would consider robots taking half our jobs a bad thing.

 

[Superfluous Man]

With the implementation of AI, and more technological advances that make data transmitting and package transport efficient and cheap, this actually wouldn't be a big deal. The prices of things would drop tremendously as labor costs shrink. Universal healthcare at that point would be incredibly cheap.

The major hurdle coming forwards is the living space issue. If technology can find some way to invent virtual homes, we'd be all set.

What living space issue?

 

[dannno]

They should embrace it with some free market reforms, not socialism..

 

[Zippyjuan]

It will free us to be more productive- so the theory goes.

 

[Son_of_Liberty90]

Sadly, I'm pretty sure there are longtime members of this website who would consider robots taking half our jobs a bad thing.

How will we provide for ourselves and earn money?

 

[Superfluous Man]

How will we provide for ourselves and earn money?

The robots would do it.

But obviously anyone who wanted to work still would, as long as the government allowed them to. There are infinite jobs. They would just do other jobs the robots weren't doing, with a net gain in productivity.

 

[Son_of_Liberty90]

The robots would do it.

But obviously anyone who wanted to work still would, as long as the government allowed them to. There are infinite jobs. They would just do other jobs the robots weren't doing, with a net gain in productivity.

So you mean we would just loaf around and do as we pleased without earning money? If the robots do all the jobs what happens to people's net worth? Will we be able to choose where we want to live?

 

[Superfluous Man]

So you mean we would just loaf around and do as we pleased without earning money?

Only if you wanted to.

If you wanted to work for money you would.

If the robots do all the jobs what happens to people's net worth? Will we be able to choose where we want to live?

You do know the difference between "all" and "half." Right?


How does the question about choosing where to live fit in here?

 

[Son_of_Liberty90]

Only if you wanted to.

If you wanted to work for money you would.



You do know the difference between "all" and "half." Right?


How does the question about choosing where to live fit in here?

Well I was referring to say to whether you wanted to live large house vs a small condo, in suburbs vs the city, both cost dependent. I suppose if you wanted to work to be a high income earner the window of job opportunities would be narrower but you would be able to narrow your focus and train for available human jobs that would yield high income returns.

 

[Superfluous Man]

I suppose if you wanted to work to be a high income earner the window of job opportunities would be narrower

That's incorrect. You would have more opportunities to earn higher incomes.

At least when you translate those incomes into the stuff you buy. Productivity would go up.

A condo that costs an average person the wages from 2,000 hours of their labor today will only cost perhaps 1,000 hours of the average person's labor, for example.

 

[Dr.No.]

What living space issue?

Ultimately, there is only so much land.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

That's incorrect. You would have more opportunities to earn higher incomes.

At least when you translate those incomes into the stuff you buy. Productivity would go up.

A condo that costs an average person the wages from 2,000 hours of their labor today will only cost perhaps 1,000 hours of the average person's labor, for example.

I am a solid gold free market guy who 100% believes that labor markets will be dramatically transformed by automation, but "presto" is not really an answer to this. If all the jobs are being done by robots, then there will not be enough paying work to go around for everyone who wants to...you know...eat. If (when?) this happens we are going to have to figure something else out. If society just says "F-you" and does nothing we will become like a 3rd world nation, with a small handful of extremely wealthy people and everyone else begging for gruel.

I totally support automation, but if you truly believe that there will still be all this paying work available in that world you are fooling yourself. We are going to have to come up with another way to redistribute capital flows that does not rely on compensation for production.

I can't even begin to imagine what that looks like now, but unless whatever it is operates on free market principles, it will fail.

The only thing more certain to fail than trying to address this problem with [ETA: without] free market principles, is ignoring it and pretending it's not actually a problem.

 

[Dr.No.]

I am a solid gold free market guy who 100% believes that labor markets will be dramatically transformed by automation, but "presto" is not really an answer to this. If all the jobs are being done by robots, then there will not be enough paying work to go around for everyone who wants to...you know...eat. If (when?) this happens we are going to have to figure something else out. If society just says "F-you" and does nothing we will become like a 3rd world nation, with a small handful of extremely wealthy people and everyone else begging for gruel.

I totally support automation, but if you truly believe that there will still be all this paying work available in that world you are fooling yourself. We are going to have to come up with another way to redistribute capital flows that does not rely on compensation for production.

I can't even begin to imagine what that looks like now, but unless whatever it is operates on free market principles, it will fail.

The only thing more certain to fail than trying to address this problem with free market principles, is ignoring it and pretending it's not actually a problem.

Negative income tax would be the obvious solution.

Think about it this way. If no one (or very few people) have jobs, where will they get the income to buy what the robots are making? Presuming that the private sector can find no utility for all that idle capacity, the government can simply pay people, and let individuals buy whatever goods they want with those funds. People would be free to engage in intellectual and creative pursuits. Of course, there will still be the ultra, ultra rich (our first trillionaire), but automation/advanced technology will make it so that even the poorest people will be able to live a "great" life.

 

[The Northbreather]

Once they build one that does the dishes, the laundry, takes out the trash, cleans the toilets, mops the floor, and cuts the grass, I'm buying one.

I would be gaining about 30% more leisure time to do what I want.

 

[tod evans]

Once they build one that does the dishes, the laundry, takes out the trash, cleans the toilets, mops the floor, and cuts the grass, I'm buying one.

I would be gaining about 30% more leisure time to do what I want.

They've already invented one that'll fuck-n-suck, dishes and laundry can't be far behind....