3D bridge made by robot.

I dont know about anyone else, but I dont like robots replacing humans. There are not enough jobs in the world as it is. Which causes much human misery.

Also it has taken decades for them to be able to do anything much at all, so frankly, I am fed up with them.

I am willing to stand corrected though.

I do know that they can be useful in bomb and nuclear situations fro example, and perhaps now surgery.
But there use in factories to take lower level jobs, I much dislike.

Sorry, soon, but what has that got to do with the article?
Have you actually looked at it?
A robot only does what a human tells it to do. It's quite amazing what robots can do these days, having been told to do so by very intelligent human engineers.

Soon, that was the essence of the Luddites argument, and history has proved them spectacularly wrong.

A person only has one pair of hands, and only 24 hours in a day, so increasing wealth rests on the ability to produce more with the same number of hands in the same amount of time. Economic growth comes from improvements in productivity achieved by automation.

Think about mediaeval times, perhaps 70% of the workforce were employed working the land just to provide enough for everyone to eat. Nowadays the same amount of food can be produced by say 5% of the workers using machinery, so if the Luddites were correct that would mean that the other 65% or so are now unemployed. But they aren't of course, they're all making other things that we simply wouldn't have if everyone was still tied up working the land, things like cars, washing machines, TVs etc. etc.

It looks like automation causes unemployment because it does in a very short term sense, but in the long run people are re-employed doing other things that wouldn't have been possible if automation hadn't freed up some labour.

I dont agree with much of that crun.

If there are less jobs to do, people leave the country.
People can become ill, and no longer able to work.

How do you think the computer or whatever you are on got made, soon? I bet a robot was involved somewhere.
When my son was doing his degree he was working on robot arms, the sort of thing that could help an amputee.

Anyway, what do you think of the bridge in Amsterdam?

It's not the problem of automation. It's the problem of not sharing the work and the money enabled by automation.
Have you read Small is Beautiful by Schumacher?

dj - I dont think that you realise that I am not going to change my mind on opening your links at all, unless you know what, happens.
And since that is unlikely to happen, it doesnt matter how many times you mention it, nothing is going to change.
It seems to trouble you a lot, but there we are.

Doesn't trouble me at all. Your loss.

Saw this elsewhere and think it's amazing. Must be uses for it in disaster zones once it's perfected.

"It's not the problem of automation. It's the problem of not sharing the work and the money enabled by automation."

Automation increases productivity, which leaves us two choices: produce more with the same amount of labour, or produce the same amount with less labour. Economic growth is founded on the former, and the Luddites argument rested on the latter.

We're now reaching a point where the environment can't support any more growth, so that leaves us with the job of solving the Luddites problem. If productivity gains mean that we need 20% less labour to produce the same amount, we can square that circle in one of two ways. One is to make 20% of the work force redundant, the other is to reduce the working week from 5 days to 4. The latter is sharing the work out and ensuring that nobody goes with out a job.

The problem with reducing the working week is that in a sense it amounts to a reduction in productivity, so it won't work as long as we have to compete with other countries who don't operate the same policy. I don't see any way out of that bind other than a global government.

One of the arguments against the Euro was that it's absurd trying to have monetary union without political union, but that's what we've got anyway. With or without the Euro, with or without the EU, we've got a global economy with no global government to manage it. That's why we have gross wealth inequality, and that in turn is why jobs keep migrating to the third world whilst labour migrates to the first world.

3d printing is amazing. On the International Space they have even printed a wrench from instructions in a file emailed to them by NASA.

3D printing is astonishing. It's like a scifi device become real. Next step time travel?

A replicator in every kitchen - just dial in whatever you fancy for tea and press a button? My mother used to say that she was looking forward to the day when she couild just give us a pill for breakfast, one for lunch and another for tea.

It would need raw materials fed into it though. I suppose you would have a large container of unidentifiable sludge in the cupboard, ladle it in at one end of the machine and take out a steak, baked potato and salad at the other end.

I hope we never come to that Elegran
No substitute for good fresh ingredients

I am all for robot technology, 3D printing etc. But that's a step too far for me.

That's what Schumacher meant, Crun. Work less but produce more and share the profits and time amongst the workers, ensuring that nobody loses out.
In a more egalitarian society, it could work. Unfortunately in this country we are becoming a less equal society. With more leisure time, we need more money to spend on that leisure. More workers in leisure and learning, and fewer in production.
I notice today that Cameron has said we need to be a high wage economy. Strange how long it's taken him to see that.