workers « Limits to Growth

Robots Move into Construction and Take Human Jobs

We see lots of photos of robots on factory floors, where the machines weld and assemble 24/7 with no coffee breaks. But construction workers shouldn’t think that their jobs are safe because they are outdoors and not as repetitious as some. New robots and techniques are being developed that are revolutionizing the construction process. One […]

“Rise of the Robots” Author: Job-Replacing Technology Is Unstoppable

C-SPAN’s BookTV showed an author talk this weekend with Martin Ford who wrote the important Rise of the Robots. You can watch the hour-long discussion in Seattle on the C-SPAN site or listen to the audio here.

Ford opened his talk by disagreeing with the title given by the Seattle Town Hall: How to Stop Robots […]

Mexican Brewery Is Fully Automated

It’s not just the first world where smart machines are taking over jobs that humans recently performed: Mexico’s Constellation brewery is “fully automated” and employs only six human workers per shift.

One variety of the machines is a laser-guided vehicle that moves pallets of beer and materials around the factory, replacing forklifts driven by people. They […]

Robotics Expert Martin Ford Explains the Automated Hamburger and Other Job-Killing Smart Machines

Martin Ford’s new book is titled “Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future” which is a subject that should be far more discussed in public. (My copy is scheduled to arrive in a few days.)

The topic of systemic job loss caused by automation has been examined in some corners, like the […]

China Plans ‘All-Robot’ Factory

Despite the extreme headline, the factory being constructed is not 100 percent robots with zero humans: rather, the aim is to cut only 90 percent of the facility’s workforce. Oh joy.

Nevertheless, the headline shows the trend as it is envisioned by captains of industry from Beijing to Fort Worth. Human workers are a cost to […]

America’s Senator Jeff Sessions Illustrates Next Decade’s Millions Admitted from Legal Immigration

Congress is back in Washington today after a two-week recess, and Senator Sessions hasn’t wasted any time in getting back to work. His office posted an informational press release with an illustration showing the coming decade’s gross number of legal immigrants compared with the combined populations of seven American cities:

Does America need 10 million […]

(Mostly) Self-Driving Car Completes Cross-Country Trip

Progress never sleeps these days, and the expansion of machine intelligence is growing faster than most of us civilians can follow. However, one simple metric is the development of the self-driving car, since Google co-founder Sergey Brin forecast in 2012 that self-driving cars would be available for consumers in five years.

Brin is putting the considerable […]

Business Is Thrilled That Automation Raises Productivity, but Doesn't Mind Mass Unemployment

How is an economy supposed to function when human workers are becoming obsolete because of smart machines in the workplace? Leisure time is certainly nice, but humans require money for acquiring goods and services. Curiously, the captains of industry don’t seem to notice the consumption part of the economy equation, and when people don’t get […]

Report: Factory Robots Will Increase in Near Future

Many factory floors can look like lonely places today, if you expect to see human workers. The assembly line designed by Henry Ford created jobs for thousands of Americans, but recently those workers have been replaced by machines.

Then:

Now:

There’s a workplace revolution happening now from manufacturing plants to offices. A 2013 report from the Associated Press […]

Greeter Robots Are Unveiled in Hardware Stores

Don’t be surprised if you are welcomed to an Orchard Supply Hardware Store by a robot ready to direct your shopping to the right aisle. Just show the replacement part needed to the machine’s screen and the OSHbot will escort you to the correct spot.

An addition, the robot celebrates diversity by speaking Spanish, so immigrants […]

Worker Wage Demands Prompt Move toward Automation

The unskilled fast food workers engaged in the “Fight for $15” campaign (or Lucha por 15 in Spanish) are cutting their own throats at the direction of unions because smart machines are ready and able to take their jobs.

Machines already exist that can do the cooking: Robot Serves Up 360 Hamburgers per Hour.

But the Wall […]

Economy Update: 'Middle Class Is Actually Shrinking'

Business reporter Stuart Varney appeared on Fox News Thursday morning to comment upon the new unemployment figures:

STUART VARNEY: “The numbers are pretty good, I gotta say, those headline numbers hit you pretty good. But you dig a little deeper just beneath the surface and you see that not everybody is sharing in this recovery… What […]

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Limits to Growth