It’s All Rotten
By Richard Colman Something is rotten. And, to paraphrase words from Shakespeare, what is rotten does not necessarily have anything to do with the State of Denmark. Politicians do not address what is rotten. But if they did, confidence in democracy might skyrocket. What is rotten is the new world of automation, especially […]
I, Robot: Americans Get $7.5 Million for Robotic Strawberry Picking Research
By NEIL MUNRO A group of Americans is getting $7.5 million from investors to help pick strawberries by using a multi-armed, electronic-eyed robot. The investment will help field the first robots in Davis, California, said Marc Grossman, CEO of Advanced Farm Technologies. “With this investment, we can expand our lead in robotic strawberry harvesting and […]
Automation threatens dream of 450,000 unionized California High-Speed Rail jobs
By Kevin Dayton It’s trendy for public intellectuals to warn that technological advancement may soon lead to the “end of work.” While some might scoff at this prophesy, it’s valid for certain occupations. Unions that represent workers in skilled trade occupations have seen the “end of jobs” for decades and certainly take the threat seriously. […]
Contemplating a Jobless Future: I For One Welcome Our New Robot Overlords
. By Thomas L. Knapp Writing in Reason magazine, Ronald Bailey asks (and tries to answer) a question you’ve probably been hearing a lot lately and may have silently asked yourself: “Are Robots Going to Steal Our Jobs?” Bailey takes an optimistic view. “[A]s we look ahead now to the end of the 21st century, […]
