Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by blacksmith_tb on Friday May 08, 2020 @07:25PM
(#23120640)
Along these lines, I still think Marshall Brain is likely to be proved correct, he predicted automation would instead replace middle management, and then direct unskilled labor in his novel Manna[1].
Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by krasin on Saturday May 09, 2020 @03:21AM
(#23122910)
Manna is a very underrated story. And it's already happening to some degree: Uber/Lyft drivers don't have managers; they are being directed by a phone app.
Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by Digit-Al on Saturday May 09, 2020 @04:36AM
(#23123128)
Taxi apps don't replace middle managers, they replace dispatchers.
Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by clairity on Saturday May 09, 2020 @11:03AM
(#23125234)
dispatchers are the middle managers.
but i'm skeptical; it would be more convincing if GP/GGP provided some of the rationale for why middle managers would be automated away rather than simply referencing a book.
Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by blacksmith_tb on Saturday May 09, 2020 @02:58PM
(#23127414)
Ha, to encourage more reading, naturally! But I'll bite, and flesh out the premise a little more - like the Uber example, in Manna the story begins with software being used to micromanage the employees in fast food joints, through their headsets. It tracks their locations, and walks them through the steps of doing any tasks it predicts will require attention wherever they happen to be - in the restroom? Does the trash need to be emptied y/n? If yes, step one, remove bag and tie closed... etc. Making robots capable of doing all those different tasks would be hard, but making a system to tell low-paid humans to do them is not so difficult.
Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by clairity on Saturday May 09, 2020 @06:13PM
(#23128697)
ok, i'm still skeptical then. dystopian novels typically feature (overt or covert) coercion centrally because it's required to force people to do things they'd not naturally do (the dystopian stuff).
those kinds of jobs would have to be coercive in nature (desperation qualifies), and would be beyond the threshold of autonomy that most people will tolerate. most jobs, even those rigidly regulated, have enough latitude that workers can find some level of esteem in it, enough to create the intrinsic motivation to keep doing it.
people wouldn't tolerate such jobs without extreme coercion, implying nothing less than a collapse of our democratic republic to achieve.
Re:I invented Roomba and assure you, robots won’t take over ...
by t0mmel on Saturday May 09, 2020 @01:10AM
(#23122479)
Wouldn’t a robot be capable of seeing and measuring if the screw is misaligned? There are more than one way to ensure that a screw goes in correctly. You are compensating for your inaccuracy by using sense of touch and kinaesthetic sense
One thing I didn't quite realized needed teaching until I taught my daughter: how do you tell when a screw is going in right? It might have resistance because of gunk or rust, or it might be misaligned. Determining the right action is incredibly sophisticated, the difference between the slight easing of resistance with old oil or the springiness when the threads are pushing against each other and deforming. In response you might draw out and try again, or push harder, all while still trying to feel out what's really happening. Automation is great for screws in factories.
We don't have anything on the horizon that has the physical flexibility and power of a human. To the degree we can reconfigure problems to match a robot's capabilities, then yes, automation may be inevitable. A lot of problems aren't like that.