Workplace Automation

[stuckathuntermtn]

Has anyone mention Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut? Get a PhD, or fill potholes.

[iceman]

Anybody else think the militarization of America is part of the ruling cohort's plan? No jobs? Be a soldier! Protect our wealth with your life for short money! What could be more exciting?!?

It's 1984 all over again.

[iceman]

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

Hmmm.

[skaredshtles]

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

This. Without a doubt.

[babybear]

side note: meant to post here but mistakenly posted in another thread this am

it's interesting that some industries can't fill even good paying jobs- think we talked about trucking/ freight in another thread recently and these are $80k, 100k a yr jobs driving that continuously can't fulfill the need
I know not a glamorous job but that's pretty decent pay for also an industry that will train you and you can also in a lot of cases you choose which loads you want to drive so some flexibility not avail in other industries

so autonomous trucks are making more sense for these types of jobs that people won't take

I'm also reading a book currently that covers this topic "The Fifth Beginning: What 6 million years of Human History can tell us about our Future" by Robert Kelly an archaeologist from the University of Wyo that I saw speak a couple wks ago. thought provoking book and perspective if the topic interests you guys*
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[babybear]

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

this is where the technology starts- in the miltary and trickles out to the rest of the businesses/ society so I think you are spot on

but in that book I reference the author calls out the end of war bc as our nation and other countries become more "civilized" there is more focus on every life lost.
I think the example is D-Day- they expected casualties of 10,000 and that was acceptable vs now when even 1 or 2 soldiers lost is a big deal
However you feel about it, it's an interesting thought...

But I also think people without a purpose- working to survive or attain something you want (whatever that may be- material or non material) will be a big challenge

of course the 5th beginning book doesn't address the time we will have to live through though these changes as he, as an archaeologist admits that he looks at time periods in the hundreds of thousands of yrs

[DBdude]

side note: meant to post here but mistakenly posted in another thread this am

it's interesting that some industries can't fill even good paying jobs- think we talked about trucking/ freight in another thread recently and these are $80k, 100k a yr jobs driving that continuously can't fulfill the need
I know not a glamorous job but that's pretty decent pay for also an industry that will train you and you can also in a lot of cases you choose which loads you want to drive so some flexibility not avail in other industries

so autonomous trucks are making more sense for these types of jobs that people won't take

I'm also reading a book currently that covers this topic "The Fifth Beginning: What 6 million years of Human History can tell us about our Future" by Robert Kelly an archaeologist from the University of Wyo that I saw speak a couple wks ago. thought provoking book and perspective if the topic interests you guys*
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

it's my understanding that driving jobs don't pay anything like that

maybe if you are an owner operator, but a truck costs $100,000. financing and maintenance of an asset that costs a $100,000 for a $100,000/yr is not a great deal

[iceman]

This. Without a doubt.

Well it's just a short-term plan until they're ready for it I guess. Although the wisdom of training people in warfare and then laying them off for life seems questionable.

[iceman]

it's my understanding that driving jobs don't pay anything like that

If you could make a hundred k driving legally there would be lines around the block for those jobs every single day. It's probably unintentional but it's just a riff on the old "those people don't want to work" thing.

[dunfree]

it's interesting that some industries can't fill even good paying jobs- think we talked about trucking/ freight in another thread recently and these are $80k, 100k a yr jobs driving that continuously can't fulfill the need I know not a glamorous job but that's pretty decent pay for also an industry that will train you and you can also in a lot of cases you choose which loads you want to drive so some flexibility not avail in other industries

there are some jobs like that - urban legend had a couple who trucked F-18 fuselages from St. Louis to LA (or vice versa) that made bank - but most aren't that. It's pick up a load in Iowa at 10pm after waiting around for a couple hours because the distribution center is a bunch of fuck ups then make a couple deliverys where you interface with halfwhits after driving 4-5 hrs, then return. Repeat 4-5 times a week. In winter you might jackknife the rig, in summer road construction. Hard job to make a life around.

kinda like if you are a miner in West Virginia and lack economic and social capital it's hard to move.

or if you don't live in a 21st century boomtown like Seattle when it had a lower cost of living and plenty of jobs, the "gig" economy blows.

just talking their own life story and bias

[babybear]

it's my understanding that driving jobs don't pay anything like that

maybe if you are an owner operator, but a truck costs $100,000. financing and maintenance of an asset that costs a $100,000 for a $100,000/yr is not a great deal

I think they often do. depends on how much you want to work but the trucking co's are willing to pay very well just to keep the lights on/ the business going
it's a real issue
then Jan 1st a new drug test mandated by the DOT comes into play- now tests for opiates and never has prior. going to be interesting to see what that does to the labor shortage (which will drive up wages even higher.) seems like a bunch more people cd be booted out of the mix. although people have always figured out ways to thwart the system

[babybear]

If you could make a hundred k driving legally there would be lines around the block for those jobs every single day. It's probably unintentional but it's just a riff on the old "those people don't want to work" thing.

there isn't - the youngins dont want these jobs
spk with a recruiter recently who said trucking schools/training ctrs were closing left and right bc of zero demand

[Supermoon]

If I was a young person I would t train to drive trucks. Those are the first jobs that will go. Long haul truck driving is already pretty well handled by self driving vehicles.

[DBdude]

Anybody else think the militarization of America is part of the ruling cohort's plan? No jobs? Be a soldier! Protect our wealth with your life for short money! What could be more exciting?!?

It's 1984 all over again.

I think the force is down sizing

[DBdude]

there isn't - the youngins dont want these jobs
spk with a recruiter recently who said trucking schools/training ctrs were closing left and right bc of zero demand

i read in a huff po article the median wage of a long haul truck driver in 2016 was $57K

[babybear]

driver pay has gotten much stronger over the past 18 months (due to a big jump in ecommerce, the economy getting better, a lack of drivers etc)
but the fluctuation in pay is also another negative to why young people don't want to take the jobs going fwd
Also as oil and gas improves from lows, more drivers go back to that industry and take drivers out of the truck pool bc the O&G jobs pay well too and you go home every night/ more stable

my point being that in some cases workplace automation is a good thing/ solves a problem (or maybe creates another one too- always interesting to see what happens when these big changes occur...)

[Ted Striker]

At least in southern WV, I think it speaks to the ingrained coal culture. Graduate HS, or not, and go work the mine. Why go to school when you can do what your dad, and his dad, and his dad did, and make damn good money doing it? I knew guys making $40-50K as low level miners. Guys running machinery were making into the 80s, 90s, and more. A lot of these places are isolated, too. If you don't work the mine, you don't have many other choices. Leave, and you're leaving behind generations of family, property, and history.

Nail on the head.

The flip side is dad was a lawyer, grandpa was a lawyer, etc.

[Ted Striker]

Anybody else think the militarization of America is part of the ruling cohort's plan? No jobs? Be a soldier! Protect our wealth with your life for short money! What could be more exciting?!?

It's 1984 all over again.

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

Hmmm.

Machines do the fighting, while human military personnel do busy work as the only form of welfare left.

[old goat]

Anybody else think the militarization of America is part of the ruling cohort's plan? No jobs? Be a soldier! Protect our wealth with your life for short money! What could be more exciting?!?

It's 1984 all over again.

A few years ago congress was trying to raise the gi education benefit. Some generals opposed the increase because it would hurt retention. It passed anyway.

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

Hmmm.

The AF has more drone pilots than manned aircraft pilots.
I wonder if robots and drones can be hardwired to follow the Geneva Convention--no more napalming children.

[liv2ski]

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

Hmmm.

Well hopefully, per Issac Asimov and his rules/laws of Robotics, I hope we are smart enough to program the machines not to harm us or we will be eventually fucked right good.

[Ted Striker]

Oh, and you guys talking about truck drivers making 100K, it's all about mobility. Driving up and down I5 probably doesn't yield shit, but Fort McMurray during the boom? 100K is entry level pay.

And that's how the automation will play out as well: low hanging fruit will be first picked. Auto-driving trucks will rule the interstates, while people work in remote areas unsuited for automation for one reason or another.

(although in the example of fort mac, if/when oil comes back, that place will be robot city)

[GeezerSteve]

On the other hand, drones and robots may put the soldiers out of work.

peace on earth is the better and cheaper way to do that

[old goat]

peace on earth is the better and cheaper way to do that

"October 12, 1492--when the Native American people discovered Columbus" -- Buffy Sainte Marie

[Dantheman]

there are some jobs like that - urban legend had a couple who trucked F-18 fuselages from St. Louis to LA (or vice versa) that made bank - but most aren't that. It's pick up a load in Iowa at 10pm after waiting around for a couple hours because the distribution center is a bunch of fuck ups then make a couple deliverys where you interface with halfwhits after driving 4-5 hrs, then return. Repeat 4-5 times a week. In winter you might jackknife the rig, in summer road construction. Hard job to make a life around.

kinda like if you are a miner in West Virginia and lack economic and social capital it's hard to move.

or if you don't live in a 21st century boomtown like Seattle when it had a lower cost of living and plenty of jobs, the "gig" economy blows.

just talking their own life story and bias

Paging Yetiman.... He tried to make a career out of OTR trucking and quit in frustration. I'm pretty sure he called it a "rotten scam."

[Mazderati]

What a depressing topic.