Do you think machines will ever replace humans as workers?

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   skylergreeneposted 12 years ago

   Do you think machines will ever replace humans as workers?

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   SpanStarposted 12 years ago

   They already have. Car auto factories is a prime example where machines have eliminated a number of people.
   
   If the question is focused more on the future in the area of robotics I venture to say technology is so far advanced now there is a strong possibility certainly from my perspective that future robots/machines may very well be as versatile as a human being.

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      andrew savageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What do you think society should do about all of the human machines that are laid off because they were replaced by other machines?

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   flashmakeitposted 12 years ago

   No I do not think so.  I think machines will replace a lot of factory workers, the computer is going to replace store clerks and a lot of entertainers will be replaced with new technology.  I think people working in the medical field will always be needed.  Also they will need programmers to program a lot of machinery and new technology.  They will also need people to work in warehouses.

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   sandoniaposted 12 years ago

   There are plenty of "disruptive" technologies being developed to replace humans as workers, so we can certainly answer with a qualified yes. Will machines ever be able to match the intelligence of humans and beat them in creative endeavors? I'm not so convince. I think such machines are theoretically possible, but I'm not convinced we, or humanity, are intelligent enough to develop it.

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   junksellerposted 12 years ago

   If we make it to the future than eventually we will be able to replace almost all workers with machines. That doesn't mean we will. If the future is anything like our world today, humans will still be cheap. Machines are expensive.

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   Richawriterposted 12 years ago

   Yes they will, but not completely.
   
   The only machines that will take over the mundane jobs are the usual mindless, emotionless machines that we see nowadays.
   
   Machines will never usurp humanity's position as the dominant species on this planet.

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      andrew savageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I like your answer, but I want to add that the day that machines can feel emotions is right around the corner.
      Let us not forget that the human body is a machine.

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   nightwork4posted 12 years ago

   they already are so i guess the answer is yes. go into any factory and you will see robots doing a lot of jobs people used to do.

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   Leroyworldposted 12 years ago

   I know that one of the long term goals of the machine designers is to free people from manual labor.  I suspect that the management using the machines have a goal to cut labor costs and improve the consistency of the product.  I wonder if anyone has given any thought to actual consequences of a population with nothing to do?  Any historians out there?

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   Thomas Swanposted 12 years ago

   Contrary to what flashmakeit said, I think the medical profession will be one of the first to be "mechanised". Consider the shortage of doctors in 3rd world countries. The demand is there. Also consider that doctors essentially have a database of illnesses, symptoms, diagnoses and treatments that would be very easy to program into a robot. Granted, there will still need to be some experts, but robotic doctors could help the world a great deal.
   
   Consider a robot shop keeper. You could just buy one, put it on the checkout, and put your feet up. Robot teachers could teach the curriculum flawlessly and equally to all, or could be designed specially for problem students.
   
   Robot drivers will be one of the first professions. Trucks, taxis, and personal cars will be all robot driven.
   
   You would think that creative tasks will remain human, but they may be just the last to go.

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    iefox5posted 12 years ago

    Agree with Richawirter, machines are more efficient than humans, it is good if machines would replace humans under some hard and dangerous working conditions. But machines couldn't replace human completely, at least they need to be controlled by human.

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    MANTRONIXposted 12 years ago

    This will never happen and I'm 100% sure of it.  Allow me to explain, I've been a freelance translator for 18 years. 
    
    Machine Translation cannot differentiate between how words are being used in different contexts.  Take for example the word "handle" in English.  We use this word in English in about seven or eight different contexts, namely:
    to manipulate
    to manage
    to defend (handle oneself)
    to control
    for a name (what's your handle)
    
    These are just a few example.  Now let's look at the nouns:
    door handle
    cup handle
    broom handle
    handle on a basket
    handle on a drawer
    handle on stretcher or wheelbarrow
    
    In Spanish, there is a different and specific word for each one of these "handles".  It is impossible for Machine Translation to ever know this.  Sometimes the wrong word is used by Machine Translation.  For example, it might utilize the word handle (door handle) for handle (manage).
    
    I'm only talking about one word, here. 
    
    The only time that it might be advantageous to use MT is if you're a translator who can later edit Machine Translated text. I can tell you that for most translators, this is a waste of time.  Most translators prefer to translate everything than to rely on MT only to later edit everything that was automatically translated.
    
    If you want to convince yourself of it, try this.  Go online to any news site of a Spanish-speaking country, like say, Argentina.  Take some text and paste it into a MT program or engine to the language you understand.  See the results for yourself and come to your conclusion.
    
    Finally, unless you can "handle" editing text from automated translations, I wouldn't try it.  Always rely on human translation.
    
    MANTRONIX

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       andrew savageposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       What if  a machine were programmed with algorythms that would allow the machine operating system to distinguish the difference between the usages by applying what is commonly refered to as common sense? What if it were able to learn?

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    andrew savageposted 12 years ago

    Perhaps intelligent design is currently in the works, and the better question to ask is:
    
    What do we do once machines are capable of filling in our slot, so to speak, as they become more and more ready each day to relieve humanity of labour?
    
    Perhaps such a day is long over do, and the only problem that needs to be solved is finding a suitable social and economic policy that frees mankind of money and the need of a job that is suited moreso for the benefit of strangers than the benefit of the family.
    
    As I reminded another in an earlier reply, the human body is a machine itself and two of the only concerns that seperate one machine from another are the function and the performance. Of course other machines will render the organic human body obsolete, which provides a good reason to upgrade to another stage of mankind... perhaps one made up of wires and other materials that can perform in ways that flesh and bone cannot. This is where some may wonder about what it means to be human. Are we merely flesh with a consciousness that is the result electrical and chemical stimuli and reactions? Or is there some sort of spirit within each of us that is sitting in the cockpit of our mind? Can other machines have such a spirit- such a spark?
    
    If you could upload your consciousness into a machine that rendered organic man obsolete would you? What would your imagination be like within such a machine as programs and applications interact and perform tasks? Would you even know it if you were a program within such an advanced machine? I leave these answers to the pioneers of cybernetics.

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