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Re:AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs [pdf] by JoachimS on Saturday August 16, 2014 @03:30AM (#8185639)
No they aren't robots but tech that as a consequence reduce the number of employees.

In Sweden there has been quite a big reduction in number of people working at the checkouts. And even if they are freed up to do other things in the stores, there has been a net reduction in number of employees.

Re:AI, Robotics, and the Future of Jobs [pdf] by SiVal on Saturday August 16, 2014 @04:43AM (#8185727)
Yes, "robot" isn't the point. "Non-human" is the point. Non-humans replacing humans probably began with animal domestication technology and has accelerated dramatically since then. Once a non-human replaces a human, the switch tends to be permanent, so all human jobs will eventually be replaced unless technology stops progressing (only if there's a global holocaust) or if humans can forever invent new jobs (that humans do better than non-humans) at a rate that matches the takeover of old jobs by non-humans.

Since the takeover is apparently accelerating, humans aren't significantly improving, and non-humans are, it's going to be a difficult race.