Robot Renaissance?
Meeting 5
How and when will robots replace people? Robots have been in our factories for decades. With improving AI and autonomous vehicle developments robotic appliances are proliferating, from self-check-out kiosks to automated warehousing and driver-less taxis and busses. In China we are seeing robots sprinting and performing very human-like movement. With continued development and penetration into the work-place human job loss is inevitable. Historically technology has displaced humans from the time of the industrial revolution, but always new jobs were created in the mode of Schumpeter’s creative destruction.
Perhaps this time will be different, according to some experts. I suggest you watch this light-hearted video as a warm-up for this scenario. We will examine the basis for this claim and look forward in time toward a possible future in which a large segment of humans (at least in the developed world) will have no work. What kind of society will that produce. What will people do with their time? Without work there will be no job-related income. Will countries need to introduce universal basic income (UBI) and where will the money come from? Will inequality go far beyond what we experience today? What kind of life will people live if work is off the table? You may wish to view this video that starts to treat the subject.
