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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

#31

Post by merpnderp »

ardy42 wrote: post #8
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.

> 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. You're basically talking about the democratization of capital. Companies and their owners will resist it tooth and nail, since they want to reap the dividends. I don't think we'll get to a world like that, with former laborers ownin…

Yeah, you'd have to curtail the freedom of some people to own robots and drastically limit how others could use them. This is a non-starter for most voters.

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

#32

Post by darkstar999 »

x220 wrote: post #25
hrktb wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see the /s, but these workers are well educated, as any average Japanese is, relatively speaking. It’s not that of an ordeal for them to move to another job.

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

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

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

#33

Post by darkstar999 »

pkaye wrote: post #16
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.

Why not the workers invest in the company that sells the robots?

The people being replaced by automation don't have the means to invest in anything.

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

#34

Post by lghh »

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

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

#36

Post by endtime »

mikepurvis wrote: post #29
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At some point this boils over and the ultra wealthy are forced to redistribute wealth either through new political policy or by violent force Not necessarily. The same robotic technology that decouples low-skill labour inputs and outputs is decoupling populations from force projection capabilities. Less cynically, there are organic ways for the situation to positively evolve ( e.g. higher across-board labour produc…

Can you expand on this? I don't understand which populations you're referring to as having become decoupled from force projection? In the US at least, there's 1+ gun for every man, woman, and child. Even if the elite class is backed by the entire US military, there's something to be said for overwhelming force of numbers.

The gun owners are typically on the other side of the aisle from those who support redistribution of wealth. Not saying that couldn't change or that desperation can't trump principle, of course.

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

#37

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

saas_sam wrote: post #24
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.

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.

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

#39

Post by krupan »

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…

We've been replacing jobs with automation for a century. It already is the norm. Why are you so worried?

EDIT: more thoughts

I just finished reading an Asimov novel written in 1955. There were computers in this book. They were people. Computer was a job title. Now we have machines that do that job, and we have an entire new industry employing lots and lots of people that didn't exist before that one job, Computer, was automated.

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

#40

Post by DrNuke »

endtime wrote: post #38
DrNuke wrote: post #35

You do not need to be a socialist to understand there is something inherently going badly wrong for the masses here.

Wouldn't a socialist be happy that the laborers are no longer being exploited?

The masses still need to eat or are we just letting them starve?
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