Between Ice-T poppin’ a cap in a driver’s azz:
and then this:
Amazon delivery is gettin’ some press. There was another article about how Amazon is paying it’s workers to quit and focus on the delivery and pays their salary for 3 months. That’s crazy and another part of Amazon trying to dominate the world. Good on them.
I think the bigger thing to actually think about, however, is when this technology becomes fully fleshed out. Because what people are or are NOT realizing is that this thing above-Digit-will replace a person making that same delivery. And then when you think about automated cars replacing drivers, and automated trucks replacing truck drivers, you’re going to have a bigger problem on our hands. Not a panic problem, but a problem nonetheless. I’m not sure much counts as a panic problem considering our species is similar to a cockroach. I digress.
The US is based on service. When we come up with ways to make services obsolete, we’re endangering our lively hood. Don’t get me wrong, ending back breaking work is great and I’m all for it, but who’s picking up the slack when you end the jobs of several people for one robot? The industrial revolution isn’t over, but it’s glory days are over for humans. Even in countries that heavily manufacture now, there’s plenty of robotics that handle almost all the tasks that humans can’t do as fast or as easy. And when they get better, that means less humans and less paid jobs. Which means more hungry humans. Food isn’t yet free, so we’re going to reach a point where we’re paying people to stay home and NOT screw things up, or we’re going to have a crisis in the form of no jobs available unless you’re really specialized.
I really hope we get some form of subsidized salaries. Not for the fact that I want welfare for the people, but rather, in today’s society we deserve to take a break, take a walk, and appreciate things. Maybe people will paint more. Maybe people will appreciate art more. Maybe we’re going to invent more things for people to do that robots can’t. I’m not sure what it is yet, I”m sure we’ll be ok. But that’s a shuddering concern as we inch towards a future of Digits/Ford/Amazon taking over your block.