[ExI] More Robots - Fewer Boring Jobs

[John Grigg]

BillK wrote:
"Corporations exporting jobs to China has kept US wages low. Great idea
for the managers. But when unemployed support payments are similar to
low wages people won't bother working boring low-wage jobs. Reducing
support payments won't force people back to boring jobs either.  The
rich managers will face millions of people in rebellions and riots so
the support payments to the masses will have to continue.
It looks like the pandemic has started the age of universal basic income
paying the masses to sit at home and watch TV."

This makes me think of the Iain Banks Culture series, where the basic
income "drones" live lives of leisure, and most people say they are an
"artist" of some kind. But still many people seek out education and
careers, for status and power. And the godlike A.I's run things from the
shadows, letting the humans think they are fully in charge. But we are
still far from such a supposed golden age.

John

On Tue, Nov 9, 2021 at 5:28 AM BillK via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Rise of the Robots Speeds Up in Pandemic With U.S. Labor Scarce
> Alexandre Tanzi  6 Nov 2021
>
> <
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/rise-of-the-robots-speeds-up-in-pandemic-with-us-labor-scarce/ar-AAQogdr
> >
>
> Quotes:
> Labor shortages and rising wages are pushing U.S. business to invest
> in automation. A recent Federal Reserve survey of chief financial
> officers found that at firms with difficulty hiring, one-third are
> implementing or exploring automation to replace workers.
>
> Some economists have warned that automation could make America’s
> income and wealth gaps worse.
>
> “If it continues, labor demand will grow slowly, inequality will
> increase, and the prospects for many low-education workers will not be
> very good,” says Daron Acemoglu, a professor at the Massachusetts
> Institute of Technology, who testified Wednesday at a Senate hearing
> on the issue.
> -----------------------
>
> Corporations exporting jobs to China has kept US wages low. Great idea
> for the managers. But when unemployed support payments are similar to
> low wages people won't bother working boring low-wage jobs. Reducing
> support payments won't force people back to boring jobs either.  The
> rich managers will face millions of people in rebellions and riots so
> the support payments to the masses will have to continue.
> It looks like the pandemic has started the age of universal basic income
> paying the masses to sit at home and watch TV.
>
> BillK
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
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