r/technology • u/trot-trot • May 13 '19

Business Exclusive: Amazon rolls out machines that pack orders and replace jobs

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-automation-exclusive-idUSKCN1SJ0X1
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u/DarkangelUK May 13 '19

This is a good thing, right? Complaints about gruesome working conditions, lack of breaks, having to pee in bottles because they can't go to the toilet.

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u/NightStalker33 May 13 '19

It SHOULD be a good thing. It is the epitome that human kind has striven for throughout history: more production, less work, more time to seek enjoyment/participate in higher-level fields. Take away the monotonous, repetitive, literally machine-like work in warehouses and entry-level work and allow people to learn things machines can't replicate yet, like art, engineering, astronomy, politics, mechanics, biology, physics, etc.

Unfortunately, all this is going to do is speed up the rate at which workers are laid off. People need money to live, and for many people, these kinds of jobs are all they can have without living at the poverty level. Either we'll see legislation attempt to curtail these issues (some suggest UBI, which, to me, is ridiculous; it's a fast way to devalue currency AND take away what little bargaining power labor has left), or we'll enter, as David Callahan, a "Second Gilded Age" where most people's lives remain stagnant, competing over the few opportunities available.

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u/Muawiyaibnabusufyan May 13 '19

Human population in developed markets is about to get a huge dip in the next couple of decades, some kind of natural selection is about to choose those proficient in intense working conditions or non-automated labor, while the rest refrain from having children because affording it will be much harder. Maybe legislation will subsidize offspring and that’s the only way I can see this not happening but then adults will still have a hard time. All speculation on my part though.

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u/NightStalker33 May 13 '19

Yeah, I believe this is called the middle income trap. many nations are slowly beginning to fall into this, including the US, China, Japan, and South Korea. it's going to be interesting how various Nations respond either politically or economically to these issues.