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Bill Gates: Prepare to be Assimilated

posted by janrinok on Monday March 17 2014, @08:03PM   Printer-friendly
from the borg-revisited dept.

sl4shd0rk writes:

"Bill Gates says everyone needs to prepare to be out of work in 20 years due to Robots/software taking over most jobs. In preparation for this, Gates recommends people 'should basically get on their knees and beg businesses to keep employing humans' and reduce operating overhead for businesses by 'eliminating payroll and corporate income taxes while also not raising the minimum wage'. Bill Gates, you may recall, is the former CEO of Microsoft whose business acumen has brought the technology sector such things as Metro, Windows Phone and Xbox One.

BusinessInsider took a similar theme earlier this year."

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Monday March 17 2014, @09:31PM

    by Nobuddy (1626) on Monday March 17 2014, @09:31PM (#17879)

    He does not say it will eliminate every job. Just that the vast majority will be eliminated.

    1 repairman per unit on a widget manufacturing floor (way overkill, probably averaging 1 per 20 or more) still eliminated a dozen jobs and left one.

    Multiply this by just about any labor/low skill job and you have a major problem. Add to that the many high skill jobs that can be consolidated into one employee and a computer such as the CNC milling example given earlier and you have an even bigger problem.

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  • (Score: 1) by Hombre on Tuesday March 18 2014, @01:42PM

    by Hombre (977) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @01:42PM (#18179)
    Hmmmm, you might want to check that attitude. The use of "/" between words/phrases, such as "any labor/low skill" implies that you equate the two. That would be a pretty ignorant stance to take.
    They may be beneath you, but repair jobs generally require a pretty high level of skill and a lot of training. Except for plumbing. That's just shitty work. I couldn't do your job without training, and you couldn't do mine. There's no degree for my field (though I do hold a BS), but I had a fair amount of formal education and training (over 300 university credits).
    Back on point, there is a distinction between skilled labor and unskilled labor. As I was getting at in a previous post, many unskilled labor jobs simply are not conducive to being replaced by automation simply because of logistics. If you mean the guy who bags your groceries, stocks the shelves and takes your order at the restaurant, sure. Most other things, not so much. Skilled labor, which is frequently done in the field, is even worse. Until there's an iRobot (and I mean that in the Asimov sense, not the Apple sense), the logistics are just too costly to make it worthwhile.

    • (Score: 2) by Nobuddy on Tuesday March 18 2014, @11:37PM

      by Nobuddy (1626) on Tuesday March 18 2014, @11:37PM (#18389)

      I do not equate the two, I meant them in more of an and/or scenario.

      I agree somewhat to your points, but I do not think they are set in stone. progress has eliminated many skilled jobs- welding, draftsman, miller being some examples. The technology advances as well as the will to eliminate the jobs. Bag boys are going to be a lower priority than an assembly line welder simply because of pay- a return on investment scenario.