Thursday 3 March 2016

vertical monopoly or bad robot

As with the footage showing the reaction of a robotic dog’s encounter with a biological one, we tend to cheer for the underdog and focus on the abusive human obstacle.
What strikes me, however, with a tinge of anxiety is how the machine adapts to warehouse architecture and shows promise for acquiring a new skill faster than its creators could anticipate. While we look to distribution centres as employment boons for the communities that courted them with tax-breaks and other incentives, I think a lot of workers could quickly be made redundant with tireless, unwhinging sentries patrolling the corridors (or even redesigning them totally in more efficient configurations that we can’t understand) and filling orders. Many jurisdictions are counting on such job-security.  What do you think? No matter what one’s job is, I think the economic effects would creep upwards. Would a warehouse android be potentially as disruptive as having a fleet of driverless trucks for the livelihoods of families or are we being neo-luddites with our trepidation?