re: What will happen to the poor, unskilled people when the robots come?

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I think you're failing to see the bigger picture.

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Possibly, but I don't think so.

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Pretty soon there will be programs designing the robotics

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Doubtful that's pretty soon, if ever, really. Programs make decisions based on how we tell them too. You are talking about AI, which is a whole other issue. The closest things we have to AI so far is really still a machine that makes decision based on piles of information we feed it.

There are some things very close but still not capable of making decisions regarding things "like" the information given. Those situations that are analogous, but not obviously so and not programmed as a pattern to look for.

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which will make them more efficient and cheaper than anything a human could design

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We still get back to manufacturing and materials costs. Then once built, energy and maintenance costs. These add up to a certain hourly rate for human workers being a break even point. Not sure where that number is now. Back in the 80's it was well over minimum wage. So highly paid manufacturing jobs may have been at risk but not menial labor.

I'm not saying the impact will be zero in the near term or that it may be significant in the long term. I just don't see it as an imminent problem and I still think the most at risk are high wage repetitive manufacturing jobs.