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Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

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Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#31

When will the first robot commit suicide? "Don't worry, they're just robots they are not sentient!" I can picture engineers racing to block this behavior and the robots coming up with ever more elaborate suicide methods.

There is no such thing as AI. If math in a box is sentient then so is my desktop computer and cellphone. This is a non-issue for the foreseeable future.

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#32
post #2

I expect workers like this. Warehouse picking is grueling work and no one really likes it per se. So having a robot do it is good to allow humans to do other things. I don’t think the solution is to keep grueling jobs or pay more to make people do things they don’t want to do. Of course more money is good, but at the end of the day, it’s a repetitive job that doesn’t require much thought. What’s interesting is that i…

What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? Go back to their old jobs as cloud infrastructure architects, or hedge fund managers? I agree that most people don't want to work as pickers, and I think that's the point: in general, if you've got a shitty job, it's because it's the best available to you. They don't want to work that job, true, but they sort of have to, and if it goes away they'll have to get an e…

> What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead?

this line of reasoning was also peddled by slave owners before the Civil War...these people can only do one thing and will starve unless we provide this opportunity to them...

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#33
post #2

I expect workers like this. Warehouse picking is grueling work and no one really likes it per se. So having a robot do it is good to allow humans to do other things. I don’t think the solution is to keep grueling jobs or pay more to make people do things they don’t want to do. Of course more money is good, but at the end of the day, it’s a repetitive job that doesn’t require much thought. What’s interesting is that i…

What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? Go back to their old jobs as cloud infrastructure architects, or hedge fund managers? I agree that most people don't want to work as pickers, and I think that's the point: in general, if you've got a shitty job, it's because it's the best available to you. They don't want to work that job, true, but they sort of have to, and if it goes away they'll have to get an e…

> What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead?

What did all of the laid off agricultural workers do when farming was mechanized and industrialized? This isn’t the first time we’re facing technology taking jobs away from people.

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#34
post #2

I expect workers like this. Warehouse picking is grueling work and no one really likes it per se. So having a robot do it is good to allow humans to do other things. I don’t think the solution is to keep grueling jobs or pay more to make people do things they don’t want to do. Of course more money is good, but at the end of the day, it’s a repetitive job that doesn’t require much thought. What’s interesting is that i…

What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? Go back to their old jobs as cloud infrastructure architects, or hedge fund managers? I agree that most people don't want to work as pickers, and I think that's the point: in general, if you've got a shitty job, it's because it's the best available to you. They don't want to work that job, true, but they sort of have to, and if it goes away they'll have to get an e…

> Your job will be less valuable, as you get get undercut both by automation, and by the highly motivated people who lost their jobs due to automation and who would do yours for less money.

Couldn't that be solved via political means? You can either institute a de-facto/de-jure caste system (like medieval nobles) or engage in career gatekeeping (like doctors).

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#35
post #2

I expect workers like this. Warehouse picking is grueling work and no one really likes it per se. So having a robot do it is good to allow humans to do other things. I don’t think the solution is to keep grueling jobs or pay more to make people do things they don’t want to do. Of course more money is good, but at the end of the day, it’s a repetitive job that doesn’t require much thought. What’s interesting is that i…

What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? Go back to their old jobs as cloud infrastructure architects, or hedge fund managers? I agree that most people don't want to work as pickers, and I think that's the point: in general, if you've got a shitty job, it's because it's the best available to you. They don't want to work that job, true, but they sort of have to, and if it goes away they'll have to get an e…

There are plenty of other low-skill or medium-skill jobs available. People have been making this argument since the start of the Industrial Revolution and there are still jobs for them. Sure, the labor market will shift, but it's not like we are suddenly replacing all humans with robots.

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? Go back to their old jobs as cloud infrastructure architects, or hedge fund managers? I agree that most people don't want to work as pickers, and I think that's the point: in general, if you've got a shitty job, it's because it's the best available to you. They don't want to work that job, true, but they sort of have to, and if it goes away they'll have to get an e…

> What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? What did all of the laid off agricultural workers do when farming was mechanized and industrialized? This isn’t the first time we’re facing technology taking jobs away from people.

They got manufacturing, shipping, or warehouse jobs.

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#38
post #2

I expect workers like this. Warehouse picking is grueling work and no one really likes it per se. So having a robot do it is good to allow humans to do other things. I don’t think the solution is to keep grueling jobs or pay more to make people do things they don’t want to do. Of course more money is good, but at the end of the day, it’s a repetitive job that doesn’t require much thought. What’s interesting is that i…

What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead? Go back to their old jobs as cloud infrastructure architects, or hedge fund managers? I agree that most people don't want to work as pickers, and I think that's the point: in general, if you've got a shitty job, it's because it's the best available to you. They don't want to work that job, true, but they sort of have to, and if it goes away they'll have to get an e…

> What do these laid off warehouse pickers do instead?

Whatever they eventually go on doing anyway, considering Amazon reportedly has a crazy turnover rate of 150% per year:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwardsegal/2022/10/24/amazon-r...

What value is a job you can't really hold on to for even a year because it's so gruelling?

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#39
People tend to react negatively to automation because of the intended job losses. This is misdirected (but legitimate) fear and anger.

In a more just world, automation would mean we would all simply have to work less. We will likely reach a point where not all of us are required to do work. We already have a lot of BS jobs. No one enjoys working in am Amazon warehouse.

Instead, automation will be used to further concentrate wealth into the hands of very few while suppressing wages for those still required.

This isn’t a problem of automation. It’s a problem of capitalism. Instead of Jeff Bezos having amputee $50 billion, maybe we should provide for the basic needs of everyone else instead?

Re: Amazon's humanoid robots will eventually cost only $3 per hour to operate

#40
post #22
post #2

I expect workers like this. Warehouse picking is grueling work and no one really likes it per se. So having a robot do it is good to allow humans to do other things. I don’t think the solution is to keep grueling jobs or pay more to make people do things they don’t want to do. Of course more money is good, but at the end of the day, it’s a repetitive job that doesn’t require much thought. What’s interesting is that i…

Where I live, entire towns have sprung up around Amazon warehouses and the huge influx of workers this brought with it. If picking jobs are eliminated, this will be quite the change for those areas.

I was recently driving in a rural area near a UPS warehouse. I could not believe the amount of cars/traffic lined up on a rural road pulling into the warehouse to go to work.
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