Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

No when I was much younger the were those who were telling us that the retirement age would come steadily down and we'd all be worrying more about what to do in the increasing years of retirement but none of the opportunities and technologies you refer to are likely to involve providing more work for humans than the companies responsible for them can get away with. In fact the driver for these things is all too often to shed people. In the west at least, humans are expensive to employ and need all sorts of benefits, protections etc. that machines don't. I'd hazard a guess that I'm at least twice your age but that's only a guess. ;)

Unless our employers are going to hire people so they can pay them wages in order to buy their products and services, I don't see where the jobs you allude to are going to come from, I really don't. :shrug:

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

If people become much poorer they will have less to spend.

If employers use robots to cut costs, they will have have to pass these cost savings on to reduce the prices.

There would be a real danger of 'negative inflation' which would be disastrous for the economy.

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

This isn't exactly a surprise is it:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42052234

Somewhere in amongst all the profit/loss calculations surely the value to people of dealing with other people needs to be taken into account and maybe government needs to create incentives on order to ensure this. I never use self service tills but that choice is slowly being taken away. Do we really want to be slowly reduced to dealing with machines and robots in almost every area of our lives? :shrug:

I was listening to an expert on AI the other day being interviewed on Radio 4. She made the point that the days when machines only took away jobs from the lower paid and manual workers are long gone. Even over paid BBC radio presenters aren't safe...

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

You'd have made a very good Luddite ! Times and the type of work people do change.

If you run out of work you can always spend all day posting paranoia on forums.... :D

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

Personally we detest Automated checkout machines and will avoid them at all costs.

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

i would rather stand in a queue for 20 mins to get served by a human

---------- Post added at 10:27 ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 ----------

about the NHS :shrug:

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

We went into a Tesco supermarket about 4 years ago and thus had quite a lot in our trolley and once finished we went to the normal checkout and a lady came to us and said you will have to use one of the automated checkouts and our reply was a curt no thank you as we want to be served by a human operated checkout and sadly she still did not budge thus a rather blunt polite reply to her was well if you don't serve us we will leave our trolley here and go elsewhere and seconds later came her reply back that she was going to get someone quickly to serve us.

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

I actually don't mind machines, in fact I own quite a few . . car, washing machine, vacuum, lawnmower etc . .

However the idea of machinery replacing people to generate profit for better machinery to replace more people does seem to be a tad concerning when you look at the long term.

I have this vision of humans eventually doing 4 hour shifts, running in large hamster wheels simply to generate the power needed to keep the machines operating :shocked:

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

Yes don't we all but to anyone with a brain cell or three that prospect ought to be of concern, especially those who spend their lives telling us that life outside the EU will result in financial ruin, the collapse of the NHS and mass unemployment in the UK. Maybe they're just paranoid though eh?... :D

---------- Post added at 18:33 ---------- Previous post was at 18:19 ----------

:tu:

Whenever they suggest we use the automatic tills I tell them I prefer chatting to a human being. It's very sad that they have to push people to use the machines that will eventually replace many of them and I do think a compromise can be reached by which jobs can be preserved without turning our backs on technology. There'll need to be the political will to do it though and if there isn't the future doesn't look great for a whole lot of us.

---------- Post added at 19:09 ---------- Previous post was at 18:33 ----------

EU migrants and fax rolls are in short supply you know. The NHS is dependent on both... :rofl:

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42192641

Every time I go into a bank they try to persuade me to do my banking online so this is not really a surprise is it. They'd very much like there to be no branches and if they carry on like this that's what'll happen. Still I suppose there'll be more room in our high streets for nail bars and coffee shops...

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

What I don't want is machines/robots that talk/argue to me. Shades of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy..Or according to the late great Dave Allen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PinfbvkbwZk

BTW it is Dave Allen so some mild swearing involved.

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

i joined the giro bank i think it was in the 80s no premises all done over the phone now it's been taken over by santander i still use the telephone banking system although they do now have branches [ the old abbey national] that they also took over ,i went to transfer some cash to buy another boat and was met with a total brick wall by the manager , so i wen't home got on the phone and transferred the money in a matter of minutes .

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

... and they're making it easier/faster to do online and or by phone for the very reason that they want to shift the responsibility/risk to us, close down branches and shed staff. They close branches so more people bank online then use that to justify closing more branches.... :spin:

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

I'm with a bank that's mobile only, cool stuff though.

Re: Where are we all going to work?
 

Yes very cool until it all goes wrong and you have no other choice... :erm: ;)


Anyway back to RBS, I believe we the taxpayer still own the vast majority of it so oughtn't this be a case where the wider public interest is taken into account?