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Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

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Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#41

Post by GianFabien »

ksec wrote: post #32

1. Most, and I am willing to even state 99% of tech ( where tech nowadays means Software ) people working in Silicon Valley doesn't have a clue how the outside world works. Along with Tech VCs which is why you get those fundings to Cloud Kitchens Robots taking over Restaurants. They clearly have never worked in a restaurants before. 2. The cost of developing Chips, Robotics is still ridiculously high. If Robotics ( w…

Agree.

Robots are complex machines and thus the R&D to get them to work well is huge. And they need (re-)programming for every change in the tasks. It all adds up to a very large capital outlay, considerable ongoing operating costs and thus financially is not competitive with minimum wage labor.

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#42

Post by samemail88 »

baxtr wrote: post #40

3 things to note 1) I think it really depends on how you define "robots". If you defined robots to include servers, many jobs have already been taken. 2) Transitions are slow. Jobs our parents knew don't exist any longer. But it won't happen faster than that. 3) People move on and learn new things. It's great to get rid of receptive tasks that a computer/robots can do. It is liberating. No one wants to wash their dis…

I know software is eating a lot of jobs, I see those type of jobs as more low hanging fruit. Software seems much easier to tackle than hardware. The robots I referring to are physical robots. Burger flipping robots, fruit picking robots, dishwashing robots, etc. Are the articles about these robots hype or are they actually in the field used by companies to improve their process/efficiency.

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#43

Post by samemail88 »

iancmceachern wrote: post #23
samemail88 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I keep hearing its coming, only a few years away. Like self driving cars, apple picking robots, etc. I remember reading in the 90's in Popular Science apple picking robots were going to replace all the farm hands in California's Central Valley.

Self driving cars are a common sight on many roads now, John deere just released a fully autonomous tractor https://www.deere.com/en/news/all-news/autonomous-tractor-re... , we have tricorders in our pocket that allow us to communicate with any human on earth, instantly, ...

But are "self driving cars" really that common? I don't mean a car with a handler to take over when the car gives up, but a truly self driving without a driver/handler.

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#44

Post by baxtr »

samemail88 wrote: post #42
baxtr wrote: post #40

3 things to note 1) I think it really depends on how you define "robots". If you defined robots to include servers, many jobs have already been taken. 2) Transitions are slow. Jobs our parents knew don't exist any longer. But it won't happen faster than that. 3) People move on and learn new things. It's great to get rid of receptive tasks that a computer/robots can do. It is liberating. No one wants to wash their dis…

I know software is eating a lot of jobs, I see those type of jobs as more low hanging fruit. Software seems much easier to tackle than hardware. The robots I referring to are physical robots. Burger flipping robots, fruit picking robots, dishwashing robots, etc. Are the articles about these robots hype or are they actually in the field used by companies to improve their process/efficiency.

Do you consider a dish washer to be a physical robot? A self-driving car?

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#45

Post by samemail88 »

baxtr wrote: post #44
samemail88 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know software is eating a lot of jobs, I see those type of jobs as more low hanging fruit. Software seems much easier to tackle than hardware. The robots I referring to are physical robots. Burger flipping robots, fruit picking robots, dishwashing robots, etc. Are the articles about these robots hype or are they actually in the field used by companies to improve their process/efficiency.

Do you consider a dish washer to be a physical robot? A self-driving car?

If the dish washer can put the dishes away after they are washed, then yes. If the self driving car can drive without any driver/handler ready to take over, then yes.

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#46

Post by baxtr »

samemail88 wrote: post #45
baxtr wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you consider a dish washer to be a physical robot? A self-driving car?

If the dish washer can put the dishes away after they are washed, then yes. If the self driving car can drive without any driver/handler ready to take over, then yes.

Ok got it. To your question: I think most of the news are hype. One core reason is not the tech I believe but the economics. You're competing against humans that do physical jobs pretty well for not much money per hour. Hard to beat.

But: There are cases where humans are just missing. For example many restaurants can't find waiters after the pandemic. That's where you see innovation happening. There are actually more and more restaurants using service robots like this one: https://www.pudurobotics.com/product/detail/swiftbot

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#47

Post by easytiger »

pukexxr wrote: post #12

Touchscreens have replaced lots of human jobs. Self checkouts have replaced lots of human jobs. I worked in one of the very first grocery stores to have a self checkout added. They told us it wouldnt affect our jobs. If you go into any grocery store in the country you will see ~25% staffing compared to the late 90s/early 2000s. If you are askibg this question you are just too young to have noticed, or perhaps of a so…

That's just turning the screen around and making the customer do the same thing as the employee based off the fact that CCTV systems will work with people's decency so as to not steal. It's not automation, the same actions still occur.

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#48

Post by nicbou »

We have automated an insane amount of jobs with software already. Data collection and processing is largely done by software now. Customer service is shrinking in size. Automation is slowly reducing the workload of many other departments.

You might only see self-service in stores, but there's so much more going on in the back office.

Hardware automation takes time, but software automation is eating the world.

Re: Ask HN: What happened to robots taking all our jobs?

#50

Post by isbvhodnvemrwvn »

pukexxr wrote: post #12

Touchscreens have replaced lots of human jobs. Self checkouts have replaced lots of human jobs. I worked in one of the very first grocery stores to have a self checkout added. They told us it wouldnt affect our jobs. If you go into any grocery store in the country you will see ~25% staffing compared to the late 90s/early 2000s. If you are askibg this question you are just too young to have noticed, or perhaps of a so…

I think online shopping has also taken a bite of that traffic.
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