America may miss out on the next industrial revolution

[Jimbo101]

The Verge

Preparing for automation means investing in robotics

Robots are inevitably going to automate millions of jobs in the US and around the world, but there’s an even more complex scenario on the horizon, said roboticist Matt Rendall. In a talk Tuesday at SXSW, Rendall painted a picture of the future of robotic job displacement that focused less on automation and more on the realistic ways in which the robotics industry will reshape global manufacturing.

The takeaway was that America, which has outsourced much of its manufacturing and lacks serious investment in industrial robotics, may miss out on the world’s next radical shift in how goods are produced. That’s because the robot makers — as in, the robots that make the robots — could play a key role in determining how automation expands across the globe.

As the CEO of manufacturing robotics company Otto Motors (not to be confused with the self-driving trucking company Uber owns), Rendall focuses on building fleets of warehouse bots that could eventually replace the many fulfillment workers who are hired by companies like Amazon. His talk, titled “Robots vs Jobs: Technological Displacement is Here,” gave a brief history of automation, charting how the tractor and the assembly line and other technologies throughout history have displaced human labor.

But then he turned to the uncertain future. Automation optimists and pessimists have begun arguing over how the world will change, and whether a mix of artificial intelligence and industrial robotics might accelerate automation in an unprecedented fashion. “The robots are coming,” Rendall said. “After the Great Recession, there was a fundamental change in people’s interest in automation. People started feeling the pain of high-cost labor and there’s an appetite for automation that we haven’t seen before.”

But don't worry - Trump has a Plan - bring back shipbuilding, ironworks and coal mining /S

[BSdetect]

1. The stone age did not end because we ran out of stones

drumph has no idea about anything realistically.

He would make any claim so he can indulge his own grasping greed.

The golden grifter is only after his own wealth enhancement at any cost to the USA.

[Jonny Appleseed]

2. My plan for an infrastructure overhaul: massive retrofitting of all public roads for optimum

compatibility with self-driving vehicles. Private sector jobs would be created when businesses retrofit their parking lots and drive-thrus.

[WhiteTara]

7. Interesting idea.

Welcome to DU

[PsychoBabble]

3. Reasonable proposal while ...

We figure out how society retools away from a consumer-driven economy.

[world wide wally]

4. Make America third world again!

[KittyWampus]

5. Robots run on electricity. Where is all this extra electricity coming from?

[beachbum bob]

6. full autmation ends our society as we know it and is as much a danger as any pandemic

or global warming disaster. Govt tax policies must address automation and robotics....to derive annual tax revenue off of each robot and each piece of automation. Corporations should not be allowed another pathway to destroy america