Should we worry about the future of robotics? [ENDS: 29/06/11]

[Andii]

It's been said computers will be smarter than the entire human race together in less than 60 years time if nano tech continues at the rate it's developing at the moment, but the thing is, they can't physically develop emotions, how can silicon, which is an element humans extract, physically develop emotions? It can't, software may well be able to learn to do this, but we can't physically make them feel anything, we feel things through chemicals released in our bodies, how would a computer do that?

like i said before. Its the future so who knows what will happen. we are talking about robots not computers. robots may be even made using human parts like a brain or a heart. this may also let them have a clear view on things and enhance them with feelings like we have. robots are evolving every single day and again they may even become a living organism just like us.

[Recursion]

like i said before. Its the future so who knows what will happen. we are talking about robots not computers. robots may be even made using human parts like a brain or a heart. this may also let them have a clear view on things and enhance them with feelings like we have. robots are evolving every single day and again they may even become a living organism just like us.

It's physically impossible for Silicon to become a living organism, it's just the way the universe works

[Andii]

It's physically impossible for Silicon to become a living organism, it's just the way the universe works

lol again we are going off the matter :L no one can say that for sure. . . people said it was impossible to sink the titanic they were wrong they also said it was impossible to fly on the moon many years ago they were wrong

[Inseriousity.]

The biggest threat to people working in retail is self service tills, it'll get to a point where there will only be self service tills in a super market.

I feel so strongly about it, that i do not use self service tills for that reason. I'd rather go to a manned till and allow someone to keep their job.

And it is for this precise reason why we should not be worried about robotics in the future. There'll never be a system where there are only self-service tills in a supermarket because the people using them have a choice and if they have a choice to go to a different supermarket where there are humans working then that's where they'll go.

Robots will never take away our jobs because the humans in control of them simply won't let them and that's why there's nothing to worry about.

[-Danube-]

And it is for this precise reason why we should not be worried about robotics in the future. There'll never be a system where there are only self-service tills in a supermarket because the people using them have a choice and if they have a choice to go to a different supermarket where there are humans working then that's where they'll go.

Robots will never take away our jobs because the humans in control of them simply won't let them and that's why there's nothing to worry about.

We created the economy but yet we are not in control of this.

If a supermarket decided to rip out all it's tills and put in a 'self service' system only, it would mean it could employ alot less staff, meaning it is reducing it's running costs. So it can cut the prices of it's food/products, when you ask people about Ethics or Money, most people go with Money everytime. I work in a food department and the food which is fair trade is more expensive and we hardly ever have to fill up the Fair trade things as people always go for the cheaper product when it comes down to it.

So if a supermarket had self service only tills, it could have cheaper products and so people are more likely to shop there. Because these people start going to one store, the other stores must compete and slash their prices, the only way they can do this is to follow suit and put self service tills in. Thus destroying many jobs.

As technology gets better, this will effect many other jobs.

[Inseriousity.]

We created the economy but yet we are not in control of this.

If a supermarket decided to rip out all it's tills and put in a 'self service' system only, it would mean it could employ alot less staff, meaning it is reducing it's running costs. So it can cut the prices of it's food/products, when you ask people about Ethics or Money, most people go with Money everytime. I work in a food department and the food which is fair trade is more expensive and we hardly ever have to fill up the Fair trade things as people always go for the cheaper product when it comes down to it.

So if a supermarket had self service only tills, it could have cheaper products and so people are more likely to shop there. Because these people start going to one store, the other stores must compete and slash their prices, the only way they can do this is to follow suit and put self service tills in. Thus destroying many jobs.

As technology gets better, this will effect many other jobs.

You said "this is why I do not use self-service tills so I can save someone's job" and this is why there's nothing to worry about because people have the choice. It's not a question of ethics. It's a question of putting humans first and everything else that is different second (whether that's animals for animal testing). There will never be a supermarket with no staff on tills because of people like you and many more people like you who refuses to use one therefore it's a big risk to attempt it and it's not a risk a profit-grabbing supermarket will go for.

It's all very well saying people will shop there if it's cheaper but this isn't necessarily true. People buy fairtrade products and/or organic food all the time even though it's more expensive than the average product. There are lots of people who do put principle before money.

[-Danube-]

You said "this is why I do not use self-service tills so I can save someone's job" and this is why there's nothing to worry about because people have the choice. It's not a question of ethics. It's a question of putting humans first and everything else that is different second (whether that's animals for animal testing). There will never be a supermarket with no staff on tills because of people like you and many more people like you who refuses to use one therefore it's a big risk to attempt it and it's not a risk a profit-grabbing supermarket will go for.

It's all very well saying people will shop there if it's cheaper but this isn't necessarily true. People buy fairtrade products and/or organic food all the time even though it's more expensive than the average product. There are lots of people who do put principle before money.

I'm just saying, from personal experience, normal cheaper products sell far better than Fairtrade which sit on the shelf for months and hardly goes down. Not saying people don't, as they do, but it's hardly any.

Nearly everyone will agree with the views of Fairtrade, but when it comes down to actually buying something, the majority or these people go for the cheaper product.

If a supermarket got all self service in, and was really cheap because of this, i'd change my views and shop there. Some people wouldn't, but most people would, as like i said it's all about money. It actually is. This is what the whole robtics thing under pins, the main reasons why we make robots is because 1) We don't have to pay them and 2) They can work 24/7 with no breaks (unless they actually break!).

This then passes savings onto the consumer and creates competition within the retail environment and so nearly all places follow suit.

I'm not saying they will totally remove all tills and jobs, all i'm saying, is it will decrease the amount of jobs avaliable. There is talk of putting in self service tills at my work because we are getting refurbished, if they do, i'd love to see how many christmas temps we get in this christmas.

[Inseriousity.]

The difference between fairtrade and self-service tills is that the people that benefit from fairtrade aren't connected to us in any way. We'll feel more emphathy for locals who live in our community than people who live thousands of miles away. If there was a supermarket with only self-service tills, I can guarantee that there would be outrage from the media and the local communities, the same way that whenever a place closes down and thousands of jobs are under threat, people band together. This is why there will never be a self-service supermarket in the UK. No retailer would want to risk public backlash because that will hit them where it hurts: their pockets.

[GirlNextDoor15]

like i said before. Its the future so who knows what will happen. we are talking about robots not computers. robots may be even made using human parts like a brain or a heart. this may also let them have a clear view on things and enhance them with feelings like we have. robots are evolving every single day and again they may even become a living organism just like us.

No offense but you sound very naive. Yes, we do not know what the future holds. Robots might be better than now and they might be very advanced until they can take over human jobs. That is why we should be worried. But, there is not even a slight possibility that a robot can be a living organism. It's completely impossible. If we have organs like brain and heart , why wouldn't we use it to save humans instead of putting it in a robot just to make it a 'living organism'? It's just clearly impossible and robots cannot be living organisms like us. They will not have the thirst for knowledge if they don't have emotions. If they don't have emotions, there's no curiosity and how can they have thirst for knowledge?

---------- Post added 13-06-2011 at 04:47 PM ----------

Robots will never take away our jobs because the humans in control of them simply won't let them and that's why there's nothing to worry about.

Robots will take away our jobs although humans control them. Humans are said to be complex creatures and they will do anything in order to get their needs fulfilled. Let's say a roboticist succeed in creating a robot that can perform surgeries just like a human surgeon. Other people might not allow it to be used in hospitals but when you come to think of that, robotic surgeons are way better than human surgeons. They can work 24/7 and perform surgeries without a mistake (unless anything technical went wrong, then that's an exception). This is because humans program them to do the tasks. With that, people might just use robots in hospitals instead of hiring human surgeons which may cost thousands and thousands per month. Even though we might not support the decision, we cannot do anything. The roboticist might be offered a lot of money for his creations. Who would say no to that? If the roboticist agreed on it, he doesn't need to work anymore because he'll have a lot of money. So, that is why we need to worry about it.

Albert Einstein created atomic bombs for world peace. Thus, saying robots will never take away our jobs is just like saying atomic bombs will never kill us. ==

[Andii]

umm thats why im arguing that we should be worried lolol. Bascially your trying to argue with me but you haven't read what ive been posting. And like i said before they may develop emotions. and learn to think for themselves.