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Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

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Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#41

Post by justfor1comment »

liquidise wrote: post #3

Modern societies are going to have a very real problem to grapple with as this replacement goes from newsworthy to the norm. This could result in significant worker displacement with massive bottom-line ROI for companies in the next decade or two, particularly as minimum wages rise. I'm not of the opinion that this automation will create an equal number of jobs for the ones they replace. Even if they do, it is unlike…

Most likely two outcomes. Either everyone will be given a basic income for meeting their needs or the robot revolution will make goods so cheap that very little money/effort will be needed purchase things. Most of the jobs may move to the entertainment and healthcare industry.

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#42

Post by lozaning »

kopo wrote: post #28
excalibur wrote: post #5

How about instead of selling robots to companies to replace their laborers, we sell robots to the workers to do their jobs. You keep getting paid as long as you keep your robot running.

On Star Trek doesn't everyone have their own Replicator than can churn out anything? Why does someone even need to get paid? Just make one from your replicator and ship it to a friend in need.

Just use your replicator to make another replicator and send them that!

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#43

Post by x220 »

darkstar999 wrote: post #32
x220 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>move to another job And when that job gets automated?

We used to be 90%+ farmers. We'll find a way.

Yes, and now farming is mostly automated... and manufacturing... and soon service sector jobs. What's left after that?

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#44

Post by codefined »

lghh wrote: post #34
darkstar999 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We used to be 90%+ farmers. We'll find a way.

Yes, we plan on finding a way. That's why we're discussing alternatives. We can find a way by accident.

So, the first shift was manual labour being automated during the industrial revolution. Now slowly intellectual jobs are being replaced. The only unique aspect a human has after this are emotional jobs (psychiatrist, etc).

There are not enough emotional jobs that can be created to fulfill 7 billion people (a quickly rising number). I think we're going to need a shift in the mindset of people. Jobs aren't required, we should instead look at increasing recreational activities available to people and try to enjoy our lives.

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#45

Post by SequoiaHope »

sharkweek wrote: post #7
liquidise wrote: post #3

Modern societies are going to have a very real problem to grapple with as this replacement goes from newsworthy to the norm. This could result in significant worker displacement with massive bottom-line ROI for companies in the next decade or two, particularly as minimum wages rise. I'm not of the opinion that this automation will create an equal number of jobs for the ones they replace. Even if they do, it is unlike…

The lower class gets bigger and bigger, and is either kept just happy enough to not revolt or... At some point this boils over and the ultra wealthy are forced to redistribute wealth either through new political policy or by violent force.

An alternative, which I advocate for, is that the lower class form productive collectives, stop contributing to the ultra wealthy, and generate their own real wealth. Much of the worlds wealth exists in wealth-generating infrastructure and information that is accessible to all of us. If we simply divest from the ultra wealthy and build a new economy based on cooperation, we can construct a system that inherently lifts us all. Automation will increase our productivity. In the end, the question is simply how we share the result of that gain. Normal capitalist corporations are designed to funnel wealth to a few board members, but cooperatives could succeed here too, where the wealth they generate is more naturally shared amongst all the workers. It’s not a silver bullet, but I feel as though it would represent a real improvement. We have to do something about how we distribute the creation of new wealth, and I don’t think we should wait for someone else to make this change for us - we must take action to realize the potential here!

EDIT: I also think some billionaires are sympathetic to these issues and would be willing to contribute. But if we form large economic collectives, we can amass enough power to force the wealthy to notice when we divest.

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#46

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

darkstar999 wrote: post #32
x220 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>move to another job And when that job gets automated?

We used to be 90%+ farmers. We'll find a way.

Then give some examples. The "well, we've always found a way before" is just hand waving without specifics. Importantly, if you consider a model where the rate of technological progress steadily increases, it's very possible that rate at one point will overtake the rate at which new jobs are created. When/if that happens, the calamity will come quite suddenly, even if decades and centuries prior we always found more jobs for the ones that technology destroyed.

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#47

Post by pg_bot »

I will remind the doomsayers in this thread that someone getting a job is not mainstream news.

You should not treat humans as machines that are only capable of performing a single task. We are not left to the dustbin of history if replaced by machinery.

Humankind's desires and creativity seems to be limitless which gives me optimism when thinking about the future.

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#48

Post by bachbach »

sharkweek wrote: post #7
liquidise wrote: post #3

Modern societies are going to have a very real problem to grapple with as this replacement goes from newsworthy to the norm. This could result in significant worker displacement with massive bottom-line ROI for companies in the next decade or two, particularly as minimum wages rise. I'm not of the opinion that this automation will create an equal number of jobs for the ones they replace. Even if they do, it is unlike…

The lower class gets bigger and bigger, and is either kept just happy enough to not revolt or... At some point this boils over and the ultra wealthy are forced to redistribute wealth either through new political policy or by violent force.

Everybody who thinks this believes in some replay of the 19th-20th centuries - personally I do not buy it because I think computation is qualitatively different to mechanization.

Moravec's Paradox strongly implies that the middle class is automated before the working class is. I think anybody who doesn't understand that isn't worth listening to since it's the most concrete result in A.I for half a century.

It's not about the bottom - it's about the middle and underclasses - that is different to the past.

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#49

Post by core-questions »

ardy42 wrote: post #30
sharkweek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lower class gets bigger and bigger, and is either kept just happy enough to not revolt or... At some point this boils over and the ultra wealthy are forced to redistribute wealth either through new political policy or by violent force.

> At some point this boils over and the ultra wealthy are forced to redistribute wealth either through new political policy or by violent force. There's also the dystopian possibility that automated forms of social control are developed neuter the ability of any kind of popular political movement from challenging the elites. That automation could be anything from systems of censorship, surveillance, and propaganda to…

Do you have a license for this post?

Re: Uniqlo cut 90% of staff at one warehouse by replacing them with robots

#50

Post by tathougies »

hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #37
saas_sam wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if the lower class is getting simultaneously bigger and also better off? Do you think the bottom 10% is living as bad as they were in 1940? 1980? Things that used to be luxuries are now normal across all income brackets... That's a good thing. :-)

People don't compare themselves to how people lived 80 years ago. They compare themselves to other people, today. So saying "Look poor people, who cares if you can't afford decent housing, or health care, or quality food - you've got a cell phone!" will not quiet the social unrest that a growing underclass will cause.

Overall though, more people have healthcare, more people have housing, and more people have food than ever before.

No one is arguing, 'cellphone, hence no poverty'. People are merely arguing that the lowest 10% are no longer destitute.

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