Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. Robots, the new slavery?

Robots, the new slavery?

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
csharpcsssalestoolsquestion
84 Posts 21 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • L Lost User

    "Have to"? How much income does a steam-engine generate? It'll mean a lot of people becoming redundant and thus, dying of starvation.

    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

    M Offline
    M Offline
    Munchies_Matt
    wrote on last edited by
    #29

    Depends on how much it is taxed. You did read what I wrote didnt you?

    L 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • M Munchies_Matt

      I think sex robots are getting there first. sex robots - Google Search[^]

      M Offline
      M Offline
      Mike Hankey
      wrote on last edited by
      #30

      Damn militant sex robots

      Someone's therapist knows all about you!

      N 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • M Munchies_Matt

        Depends on how much it is taxed. You did read what I wrote didnt you?

        L Offline
        L Offline
        Lost User
        wrote on last edited by
        #31

        I read it, and dismiss it as wishfull thinking. How much is a steam-engine taxed? The automation already endangered many profession. How much is a spread-sheet taxed? It won't happen; our production has climbed, and so have profits. Don't expect a break soon.

        Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

        M 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • L Lost User

          I read it, and dismiss it as wishfull thinking. How much is a steam-engine taxed? The automation already endangered many profession. How much is a spread-sheet taxed? It won't happen; our production has climbed, and so have profits. Don't expect a break soon.

          Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

          M Offline
          M Offline
          Munchies_Matt
          wrote on last edited by
          #32

          If we are going to automate, and we will, because we have started already, then in order to halt a revoloution by the staving unemployed masses they will have to be paid, the revenue for whichi will come from taxing the robots as if they were workers So, worker 1 gets 100 euros a day, and pays 30 in tax to the govt. A robot, works three shifts, and gets 100 euros a day. 30 goes to the govt, 70 to the employer (he actually just keeps the robots wages), This pays for the robots. The robot is producing 3 times as many goods though, so their price falls, thus making it cheaper for the ex worker to live on the 30 euros of tax the govt now gives him to sit around and do nothing.

          L 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • M Munchies_Matt

            Saw this on TV recently on a program about robots: [^] I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax. Of course this payment has to reflect the costs of the robot to the company but given the robot works a 3 shift day its productivity is much higher than a human's, so this revenue is substantial. This revenue is then paid out to the public at a fixed amount per month per person, regardless of whether they work or not. Products produced by robots are much cheaper, allowing for greater consumption. Many people would therefore lead a life of leisure, maintained by the state. Others who either enjoy work, want to earn more money, or cant be replaced by robots, such as professionals, ie us lot, doctors, lawyers etc continue as before, but perhaps with reduced hours. An interesting side effect is that cheap labour in the third world, which increasingly becomes less cheap as more and more companies try to exploit it, is undercut, and the labour floods back to the advanced countries that can best implement robotics. So we all effectively live like a plantation owner of the past, off the backs of the labour of slaves, just metal in this case, and free of the moral implications. Not a bad lifestyle. When do we start! :)

            P Offline
            P Offline
            Pualee
            wrote on last edited by
            #33

            Munchies_Matt wrote:

            I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax.

            Then you will be paying tax every time you use a computer to do any manual work - like accounting. You will be paying chauffeur fees for self-driving cars. You will not receive any reduction in price for efficiencies derived from automation (cheaper food, cheaper production of vehicles, etc). In effect, you will have to get a job, because we all know the government won't pass that tax back to you - unless you plan on living on welfare.

            M 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • M Munchies_Matt

              If we are going to automate, and we will, because we have started already, then in order to halt a revoloution by the staving unemployed masses they will have to be paid, the revenue for whichi will come from taxing the robots as if they were workers So, worker 1 gets 100 euros a day, and pays 30 in tax to the govt. A robot, works three shifts, and gets 100 euros a day. 30 goes to the govt, 70 to the employer (he actually just keeps the robots wages), This pays for the robots. The robot is producing 3 times as many goods though, so their price falls, thus making it cheaper for the ex worker to live on the 30 euros of tax the govt now gives him to sit around and do nothing.

              L Offline
              L Offline
              Lost User
              wrote on last edited by
              #34

              Munchies_Matt wrote:

              in order to halt a revoloution by the staving unemployed masses they will have to be paid

              Suddenly you sound like a communist. The unemployed masses may learn a new trade, and try to become productive members again. Non-productive members are not required on the planet.

              Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^]

              M 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • M Mike Hankey

                You on Santa's hit list eh?

                Someone's therapist knows all about you!

                C Offline
                C Offline
                CPallini
                wrote on last edited by
                #35

                :laugh: :thumbsup:

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • M Munchies_Matt

                  Saw this on TV recently on a program about robots: [^] I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax. Of course this payment has to reflect the costs of the robot to the company but given the robot works a 3 shift day its productivity is much higher than a human's, so this revenue is substantial. This revenue is then paid out to the public at a fixed amount per month per person, regardless of whether they work or not. Products produced by robots are much cheaper, allowing for greater consumption. Many people would therefore lead a life of leisure, maintained by the state. Others who either enjoy work, want to earn more money, or cant be replaced by robots, such as professionals, ie us lot, doctors, lawyers etc continue as before, but perhaps with reduced hours. An interesting side effect is that cheap labour in the third world, which increasingly becomes less cheap as more and more companies try to exploit it, is undercut, and the labour floods back to the advanced countries that can best implement robotics. So we all effectively live like a plantation owner of the past, off the backs of the labour of slaves, just metal in this case, and free of the moral implications. Not a bad lifestyle. When do we start! :)

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  DRHuff
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #36

                  Explain to me how come MicroSoft isn't already required to do this for every license of Word which put thousands of secretaries out of work? All a robot does is enhance productivity. Do we tax everything that enhances productivity?

                  I'm pretty sure I would not like to live in a world in which I would never be offended. I am absolutely certain I don't want to live in a world in which you would never be offended. Freedom doesn't mean the absence of things you don't like. Dave

                  M 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • D DRHuff

                    Explain to me how come MicroSoft isn't already required to do this for every license of Word which put thousands of secretaries out of work? All a robot does is enhance productivity. Do we tax everything that enhances productivity?

                    I'm pretty sure I would not like to live in a world in which I would never be offended. I am absolutely certain I don't want to live in a world in which you would never be offended. Freedom doesn't mean the absence of things you don't like. Dave

                    M Offline
                    M Offline
                    Munchies_Matt
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #37

                    We havent got to that future yet.

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • P Pualee

                      Munchies_Matt wrote:

                      I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax.

                      Then you will be paying tax every time you use a computer to do any manual work - like accounting. You will be paying chauffeur fees for self-driving cars. You will not receive any reduction in price for efficiencies derived from automation (cheaper food, cheaper production of vehicles, etc). In effect, you will have to get a job, because we all know the government won't pass that tax back to you - unless you plan on living on welfare.

                      M Offline
                      M Offline
                      Munchies_Matt
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #38

                      Pualee wrote:

                      Then you will be paying tax every time you use a computer to do any manual work - like accounting.

                      Is a computer a robot?

                      Pualee wrote:

                      You will be paying chauffeur fees for self-driving cars.

                      Probably. Today you pay a driver, and he pays tax.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • M Munchies_Matt

                        Saw this on TV recently on a program about robots: [^] I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax. Of course this payment has to reflect the costs of the robot to the company but given the robot works a 3 shift day its productivity is much higher than a human's, so this revenue is substantial. This revenue is then paid out to the public at a fixed amount per month per person, regardless of whether they work or not. Products produced by robots are much cheaper, allowing for greater consumption. Many people would therefore lead a life of leisure, maintained by the state. Others who either enjoy work, want to earn more money, or cant be replaced by robots, such as professionals, ie us lot, doctors, lawyers etc continue as before, but perhaps with reduced hours. An interesting side effect is that cheap labour in the third world, which increasingly becomes less cheap as more and more companies try to exploit it, is undercut, and the labour floods back to the advanced countries that can best implement robotics. So we all effectively live like a plantation owner of the past, off the backs of the labour of slaves, just metal in this case, and free of the moral implications. Not a bad lifestyle. When do we start! :)

                        S Offline
                        S Offline
                        Slacker007
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #39

                        Only humans would think robots are a great idea in regards to helping us and furthering our species. IMHO, we deserve every single bad thing that will come of this, a thousand times over. I also believe, that very few good things will ever come of this.

                        M J 2 Replies Last reply
                        0
                        • M Munchies_Matt

                          Saw this on TV recently on a program about robots: [^] I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax. Of course this payment has to reflect the costs of the robot to the company but given the robot works a 3 shift day its productivity is much higher than a human's, so this revenue is substantial. This revenue is then paid out to the public at a fixed amount per month per person, regardless of whether they work or not. Products produced by robots are much cheaper, allowing for greater consumption. Many people would therefore lead a life of leisure, maintained by the state. Others who either enjoy work, want to earn more money, or cant be replaced by robots, such as professionals, ie us lot, doctors, lawyers etc continue as before, but perhaps with reduced hours. An interesting side effect is that cheap labour in the third world, which increasingly becomes less cheap as more and more companies try to exploit it, is undercut, and the labour floods back to the advanced countries that can best implement robotics. So we all effectively live like a plantation owner of the past, off the backs of the labour of slaves, just metal in this case, and free of the moral implications. Not a bad lifestyle. When do we start! :)

                          P Offline
                          P Offline
                          PIEBALDconsult
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #40

                          "We're going to automate everything and make the robots pay for it"?

                          M 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • M Munchies_Matt

                            WTF are you on? HOw is a robot actually like slavery? Do you actually think machines have rights, have feelings?

                            N Offline
                            N Offline
                            Nathan Minier
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #41

                            Munchies_Matt wrote:

                            WTF are you on?

                            I'm gonna have to go with work, which might have distracted me enough to miss the "no" part of "no more" while skimming your post.

                            "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • M Munchies_Matt

                              Saw this on TV recently on a program about robots: [^] I can envision a future where robots do almost all the manual work, and crucially, they are payed a wage and taxed at 100% on it. ie, the company employing them pays, at a reduced rate, the commensurate wage a person would have received, direct to the government as tax. Of course this payment has to reflect the costs of the robot to the company but given the robot works a 3 shift day its productivity is much higher than a human's, so this revenue is substantial. This revenue is then paid out to the public at a fixed amount per month per person, regardless of whether they work or not. Products produced by robots are much cheaper, allowing for greater consumption. Many people would therefore lead a life of leisure, maintained by the state. Others who either enjoy work, want to earn more money, or cant be replaced by robots, such as professionals, ie us lot, doctors, lawyers etc continue as before, but perhaps with reduced hours. An interesting side effect is that cheap labour in the third world, which increasingly becomes less cheap as more and more companies try to exploit it, is undercut, and the labour floods back to the advanced countries that can best implement robotics. So we all effectively live like a plantation owner of the past, off the backs of the labour of slaves, just metal in this case, and free of the moral implications. Not a bad lifestyle. When do we start! :)

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              Mycroft Holmes
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #42

                              For a start you seem to assume a robot is sentient, good luck with that one, if it is not sentient then it has no rights and no requirement for wages/recompense. Compensating someone (Govt) for using a robot to do the work is not going to happen, it isn't today, why would you think it will in the future. A completely different economic model is going to have to be invented to achieve your vision. And if you think the corporates are going to abdicate the money management to a govt your nuts. A production tax may be one way to go!

                              Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                              M 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • S Slacker007

                                Only humans would think robots are a great idea in regards to helping us and furthering our species. IMHO, we deserve every single bad thing that will come of this, a thousand times over. I also believe, that very few good things will ever come of this.

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Munchies_Matt
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #43

                                A robot is just a machine. It might look clever, but underneath it is just a machine, and it is the engineers who built it that are the geniuses, just ad Babbage was, and the inventor of the spinning jenny. So, since mechanisation has helped us immensely, giving us an incredible lifestyle today, why not continue the trend? And, what ill has befallen us because of past mechanisation that makes you think future mechanisation will?

                                S 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • P PIEBALDconsult

                                  "We're going to automate everything and make the robots pay for it"?

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Munchies_Matt
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #44

                                  You got it. :)

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • M Mycroft Holmes

                                    For a start you seem to assume a robot is sentient, good luck with that one, if it is not sentient then it has no rights and no requirement for wages/recompense. Compensating someone (Govt) for using a robot to do the work is not going to happen, it isn't today, why would you think it will in the future. A completely different economic model is going to have to be invented to achieve your vision. And if you think the corporates are going to abdicate the money management to a govt your nuts. A production tax may be one way to go!

                                    Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

                                    M Offline
                                    M Offline
                                    Munchies_Matt
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #45

                                    Mycroft Holmes wrote:

                                    you seem to assume a robot is sentient, good luck with that one

                                    You seem to much, I dont.

                                    Mycroft Holmes wrote:

                                    it has no rights and no requirement for wages

                                    Of course not, but it has to be treated as if it does in order to generate revenue the govt will need to pay the ex-manual labourers unemployment money, at a decent rate.

                                    Mycroft Holmes wrote:

                                    why would you think it will in the future

                                    Legislation. And why not? Is this not a better world? No more manual, dull labour. Those people get to sit around, play golf, spend the day in the pub. Let the robots do their work. Those who enjoy their work, the artists, the professionals, will quite happily continue working. And we will all live like plantation owners of the past, in luxury, because at the bottom of society will be an army of metal slaves, working for us.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • M Munchies_Matt

                                      A robot is just a machine. It might look clever, but underneath it is just a machine, and it is the engineers who built it that are the geniuses, just ad Babbage was, and the inventor of the spinning jenny. So, since mechanisation has helped us immensely, giving us an incredible lifestyle today, why not continue the trend? And, what ill has befallen us because of past mechanisation that makes you think future mechanisation will?

                                      S Offline
                                      S Offline
                                      Slacker007
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #46

                                      Many, many uneducated and/or less skilled people are losing and will continue to lose their jobs to robots and automated mechanization - that is a fact. This will put more of a strain on the welfare system in my country, and perhaps, the world's welfare system (if they have one). Now you introduce AI, and that adds an infinite set of variables to the mix. As AI become more powerful, then what would happen if AI went awry? Speculation on my part, yes, but still a valid scenario outcome. There are and will continue to be benefits to this robot stuff, but I think the negative will outweigh the good. My opinion.

                                      M 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • S Slacker007

                                        Many, many uneducated and/or less skilled people are losing and will continue to lose their jobs to robots and automated mechanization - that is a fact. This will put more of a strain on the welfare system in my country, and perhaps, the world's welfare system (if they have one). Now you introduce AI, and that adds an infinite set of variables to the mix. As AI become more powerful, then what would happen if AI went awry? Speculation on my part, yes, but still a valid scenario outcome. There are and will continue to be benefits to this robot stuff, but I think the negative will outweigh the good. My opinion.

                                        M Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        Munchies_Matt
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #47

                                        One interesting effect will be the re-onshoring of labour in the developed first world countries, ie those who are going to robotise first. Anyway, yes, AI and all that, the robots attack, terminator, I Robot and so on. Lots of sci-fi there, not sure if there is much basis in reality for it.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • B BillWoodruff

                                          Munchies_Matt wrote:

                                          So we all effectively live like a plantation owner of the past, off the backs of the labour of slaves, just metal in this case, and free of the moral implications.

                                          The past ?

                                          «While I complain of being able to see only a shadow of the past, I may be insensitive to reality as it is now, since I'm not at a stage of development where I'm capable of seeing it.» Claude Levi-Strauss (Tristes Tropiques, 1955)

                                          K Offline
                                          K Offline
                                          kalberts
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #48

                                          The golden suits in the first "The Yes Men" movie are still worth a good laugh ... with a bitter aftertaste.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups