It’s depressing that bulls**t like this is still allowed to go unchallenged. When in the history of capitalism do companies, out of the goodness of their heart, find better paying jobs for workers they don’t need any more?
The only way CEOs call sell this shiny happy future of jobs being automated away, is to be allowed to get away with lies like this. It’s long past the point our politics deals with the reality of automation by AI/robots. It’s already happening, and it’s only going to accelerate.
Humanoid robots will take over factory jobs within 5 years, Xiaomi CEO says
I’m watching a toothpaste company spend 3 million dollars on a three arm robot to stack 25kg bags of potassium nitrate and it works about as well as if a kid made it with Lego mindstorm.
After watching some videos, this doesn’t work half as good as the kids stuff.
This stuff accelerates fast. boston dynamics was around since the nineties but its not until google X bought it a bit over a decade ago that people started to see what it could do and spot came out 5 years ago. The robot that changes its own batteries is a big thing to me as it realistically allows for a unit that can go 24x7 without being attached to a cable. If a robot is made that can maintain and do basic fixes if given parts for its own design and that will be massive as well and I don’t think its far away.
Wall-E is unironically a fantastic design for a self maintaining robot, and it’s sad that Disney’s ownership makes us unlikely to get one in the foreseeable future (not a plastic toy version)
It even talks in beep boop language to avoid seeming too human, unlike the direction big tech seems to be planning for most robot stuff
I like the robo simian where every limb can act as foot or hand. so move like a dog but stand and do things like a human but grab and hang and manipulate things near the ground and stabilize with three limb when needing high stability.
The tech is there, but companies are penny pinching on their employees. I doubt they have the insight to invest millions of dollars to upgrade their factories.
As I responded to another that is exactly what makes general robots different. If it gets to the point that you can buy one and set it to do tasks its no longer a big investment but a purchase here and there. Its like the personal computer. Before that places had to invest big time into super computer datacenters to use computing. Suddenly small businesses and people at home could buy one and utilize it. If an office can skip replacing its chairs and copier to get one one year and its worth the purchase, then it will become standard purchases that offices do. not millions. thousands.
Every factory i have ever worked at had automated systems that broke and management decided it would just be cheaper to hire someone to perform the task rather than properly fix and then maintain their automated systems.
this is why I said it was huge that the one robot could change its own battery and once it could do maintenance and repair on one of its kind its going to be an even greater leap. I don’t think that is very far away. Honestly the thing likely to sink it is enshitification where all repair parts and such will only be through a contract and maybe only authorized units will have the repair code and they will send one to your place with your monthly subscription. Which im like 99% sure will happen.
All I’m saying is most companies aren’t close. Not by miles. Now in certain fields it may be true, i only contract in pharma and oral healthcare. 1 engineer/project manager with 17 projects all getting done half assed is the majority of what i see.
Thats the thing though. When engineering an assembly line or warehouse with rails its a big project. If a particular store can buy it and use it in short order it takes on a whole new dynamic. I kinda hope it brings back small stores and local offices.