The robots are coming

motorguy

asajj wrote: »

Automation has been replacing jobs for many years so nothing new in that sense. Role descriptions change and roles evolve.

Totally agree - i'm all for removing the most mundane job roles away from people.

Lifes too short.

motorguy

With regards to automation of driving / taxis / transport, who wants it and whos going to pay for it?

UBER are making big noises about driverless cars, but they cant even make their current model work, let alone the astronomical cost of an automated fleet - last year UBER lost $2 BILLION.

Local transport firms wont be able to afford driverless lorries, and whilst its all a lovely idea, imagine the reputational damage there'd be the first time a driverless M&S lorry crashed into a bus and killed people?

And who wants driverless cars? I enjoy driving. I dont "get" the push in that direction.

Our Merc can park itself - Woohoo! Other than being mildly interesting for 2 mins, we never use it. Whats the point?

AshleyBurf

re14796 wrote: »

Sod brexit. We won't need markets when we can't get jobs.

True. This is why it's a good idea to start your own business asap

AshleyBurf

motorguy wrote: »

With regards to automation of driving / taxis / transport, who wants it and whos going to pay for it?

UBER are making big noises about driverless cars, but they cant even make their current model work, let alone the astronomical cost of an automated fleet - last year UBER lost $2 BILLION.

Local transport firms wont be able to afford driverless lorries, and whilst its all a lovely idea, imagine the reputational damage there'd be the first time a driverless M&S lorry crashed into a bus and killed people?

And who wants driverless cars? I enjoy driving. I dont "get" the push in that direction.

Our Merc can park itself - Woohoo! Other than being mildly interesting for 2 mins, we never use it. Whats the point?

Facebook, Amazon, Airbnb, and a whole host of other disruptive businesses lost money for years before they turned profit. There is mass disruption in the automotive space with the likes of Uber & Tesla.

Why? Mostly because we are destroying the planet. The reliance on oil has put all the governments in the world at mercy to oil companies for wars. It's time to stop feeding that wolf.

As for self driving cars... who knows what will happen there. I am sure people will still drive cars. But paying the driver is probably 80% of Uber's cost.

SueC_2

Fantastic! Peopleless offices to go with the paperless offices that were predicted when computers became commonplace some 30 odd years ago. Seriously..... never gonna happen!

Gavin83

SueC wrote: »

Fantastic! Peopleless offices to go with the paperless offices that were predicted when computers became commonplace some 30 odd years ago. Seriously..... never gonna happen!

When computers became commonplace 30 years ago it was all fine if you were at your desk but what happened when you wanted to take that information elsewhere? It's only really been the last few years that good technology has existed that could replace paper. I've seen paper use reduce to almost non existent levels in my office. However it's at a real disadvantage, paper is massively cheaper than the electronic alternative.

People on the other hand aren't cheap, not even slightly. We also don't yet have the technology to replace the majority of jobs. However AI to replace entire sectors is literally a few years away and most people in the know predict we'll have computers as intelligent as humans within 25 years.

They'll come a point where robots can do everything humans can do and more. It's just when this point is that's the real question. I'm actually shocked there are people saying this won't happen as I can't see any other alternative. The only limitation is people physically holding the development back but I can't see why they would when so much money could be made.

motorguy

AshleyBurf wrote: »

Facebook, Amazon, Airbnb, and a whole host of other disruptive businesses lost money for years before they turned profit. There is mass disruption in the automotive space with the likes of Uber & Tesla.

Yes, exactly. And hence why we're a long long way off driverless taxis when companies like UBER are still burning up a fortune trying to establish themselves.


And even IF they make it fly, we're another 50 years off it getting to the point where EVERY taxi EVERYWHERE is driverless.

AshleyBurf wrote: »

Why? Mostly because we are destroying the planet. The reliance on oil has put all the governments in the world at mercy to oil companies for wars. It's time to stop feeding that wolf.

I don't see how driverless cars changes that? Electric cars will, eventually, but that's a different debate.

AshleyBurf wrote: »

As for self driving cars... who knows what will happen there. I am sure people will still drive cars. But paying the driver is probably 80% of Uber's cost.

UBER currently pay the driver an inclusive percentage to include :-

• Fuel
• Wear and Tear on the vehicle
• Insurance
• Depreciation on the vehicle
• His wage

Driver wage only makes up a small part of it.


Even IF UBER get it to fly as a reality, it'll only take a few high profile accidents / incidents and people will avoid using them in their droves. Its a high risk / high cost strategy.


A lot of it is chasing technology for the sake of it, frankly.

Marvqn1

AshleyBurf wrote: »

It's true that in certain industries will be taken over by robots. The creative industries won't be but things like driving trucks will be self driving, self driving taxis, cleaning may eventually be done by robots. I would certainly take a cleaning and cooking robot at home!

Even when they have driverless buses, they'll need a person supervising on the bus to ensure that people pay their fair and for other things such as ensuring people aren't eating on the bus. So there would be just as many people required as with regular buses.

mattcanary

DavidF wrote: »

Last time I walked inside my own local Barclays bank I was met by one human who directed everyone I saw entering the place (myself included) to one of the many machines to complete our "banking". There was one other human worker (visible anyway) who was behind the traditional desk and she was dealing with a long queue of people who I can only assume refused or could not complete their transactions.
Every time we go supermarket shopping you see less and less workers on tills....our local morrison's for example has one employee tasked with overseeing 10 self scanning tills. This is replicated in any of the rival supermarkets that we have visited.
So yes the threatened computer/robotic revolution HAS taken place and IS removing jobs done by humans.
There is no real way of stopping this march. Youngsters should be focused on careers that they can envisage will still be required in 40 years time. Builders/Trades ect will always be required. Drivers are the next huge target...and the UK has promised to lead the way in the driverless cars/vans ect. Train drivers will soon be gone. I can also envisage a time when even police officers will be replaced by AI ....as said even lawyers and judges ect "could" be fairly easily replaced by automation.
Finally if the robots/automation doesn't make you redundant then watch out for globalisation where someone earning <$1 per day can do your job equally well ....it's going to come down to weather your employer likes your smile lol.

Lawyers and judges should never be replaced by robots.

A society where justice and length of sentences is determined by yes/no facts is an awful society.

Cirias

In my opinion automation is a great thing in some areas and terrible in others.

Automated Telephone Systems

I recently called HMRC to change my tax code and was greeted by an automated system. It was actually spot-on with everything I said and authenticated me really easily without any sort of misunderstanding. I didn't have to wait in a queue or anything. And then the human operator comes on the line and what's the first thing he does? Asks me all the same questions again!

What's the point in automated systems if agencies and companies won't take full advantage of them? The operator literally changed an attribute on his screen and that was me done - a piece of software could have done that instead.

Self-Scan Checkouts

This is an area that I think is really innovating in a good way. Tesco and M&S (weirdly) have the best self-scan tills in my experience while Sainsbury's and Asda have the absolute worst. Sainsbury's don't even take contactless payment still - go figure!

I hardly ever visit a manned checkout now because I blaze through the self-service so quickly. Even items that have security tags on them are really quickly removed by the self-service staff members. Again, Tesco are the absolute best at this and they have really worked hard to streamline their checkout experience in my opinion. (Disclaimer: I don't work for Tesco!)

Driverless Transport

Driverless trains: yes please, bring it on! Why the hell do trains even have drivers anymore? Look at the recent tram accident in London - it was a human causing the vehicle to speed. Look at the current union strikes over who gets to push a button - I've got a good idea, remove the drivers and "supervisors" and have a computer operate the train entirely.

Driverless cars: still unsure about this one as the technology is still in its infancy and the road network is not "on rails". Other human drivers (some of whom are pretty shocking) have to be accounted for. The human brain is able to calculate and detect things that a machine just couldn't do - but vice versa.

Driverless planes: not heard much about this to be honest, but I think its the next big advance to come. Many pilots are on record as saying that they don't even fly the planes anymore - everything can be handled by the autopilot. So why not have driverless planes?

What jobs will be safe from "Judgement Day"?

• Jobs that involve a degree of human judgement or discretion.
• Creative industries such as movies, books and art. Although human actors are even now being superseded by ever more impressive CGI and AI.
• Anything that is involved with repairing/maintaining technology.