I think there are many positive and many negative aspects to this, and it's easy to focus on one set and ignore the other. I have some moderately disorganzed half-thoughts on the matter. I think...
I think there are many positive and many negative aspects to this, and it's easy to focus on one set and ignore the other.
I have some moderately disorganzed half-thoughts on the matter. I think this may feel a little disjointed, so if I fail to write some things that are in my head or insufficiently formed, poke me:
I think that overall, for the sake of humanity, this is generally a good thing. According to articles I've seen, it looks like our population boom will not be endless; rather, we probably have a bit more than we will naturally settle down into, which IIRC is around 6 billion - as the birth rate drops, it is thought to stabalize around that level.
I think we absolutely need more automation; and in fact, we need dextrous android robots. We need robots capable of doing all the work we don't want to.
But the crtiical other side that worries me greatly isn't happening: We need social safety nets. And we need to destroy our oligarchs.
I don't care if rich - even super rich - people continue to exist, but not the ultra-rich who can influence politics as these folks currently are able to. We need a system of government that works for the people, and also adheres to science.
If we were able to overcome the oligarchs' infuence and rise of right-wing propaganda, we could truly start elevating all of humanity. We could work towards breaking free from anyone having to do manual labour or die without healthcare or die homeless on the streets.
So I see the increase in automation as generally a Good Thing™. But even if it's not, it's happening anyway.
I think China is in a pretty unique position right now. If they were to install social safety nets and increase regulations on products to make them safer… they really could be a leading country in th world. There's hope there.
More hope for that than the US recovering from our downfall anytime soon, at least.
Factories are now more automated in China than in the United States, Germany or Japan. China has more factory robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers than any other country except South Korea or Singapore, according to the International Federation of Robotics.
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Car factories in the United States also use automation, but much of the equipment comes from China. Most of the world’s car assembly plants built in the past 20 years were in China, and an automation industry grew up around them.
Chinese companies also bought overseas suppliers of advanced robotics, like Kuka of Germany, and moved much of their operations to China. When Volkswagen opened an electric car factory a year ago in Hefei, it had only one robot from Germany and 1,074 robots made in Shanghai.
China’s rapid advance in factory robotics has been propelled from the top down. Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” initiative, which began a decade ago, set out 10 industries in which China sought to be globally competitive. Robotics was one of them.
I think there are many positive and many negative aspects to this, and it's easy to focus on one set and ignore the other.
I have some moderately disorganzed half-thoughts on the matter. I think this may feel a little disjointed, so if I fail to write some things that are in my head or insufficiently formed, poke me:
I think that overall, for the sake of humanity, this is generally a good thing. According to articles I've seen, it looks like our population boom will not be endless; rather, we probably have a bit more than we will naturally settle down into, which IIRC is around 6 billion - as the birth rate drops, it is thought to stabalize around that level.
I think we absolutely need more automation; and in fact, we need dextrous android robots. We need robots capable of doing all the work we don't want to.
But the crtiical other side that worries me greatly isn't happening: We need social safety nets. And we need to destroy our oligarchs.
I don't care if rich - even super rich - people continue to exist, but not the ultra-rich who can influence politics as these folks currently are able to. We need a system of government that works for the people, and also adheres to science.
If we were able to overcome the oligarchs' infuence and rise of right-wing propaganda, we could truly start elevating all of humanity. We could work towards breaking free from anyone having to do manual labour or die without healthcare or die homeless on the streets.
So I see the increase in automation as generally a Good Thing™. But even if it's not, it's happening anyway.
I think China is in a pretty unique position right now. If they were to install social safety nets and increase regulations on products to make them safer… they really could be a leading country in th world. There's hope there.
More hope for that than the US recovering from our downfall anytime soon, at least.
https://archive.is/gA65L
From the article:
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