The robots are coming, and they are hungry for jobs. Should humans be worried?Innovation has been destroying jobs for two centuries. So far, our economy has harnessed innovation to create far more jobs than it destroyed, while producing truly dramatic gains in living standards.Yet a growing chorus of economists is wondering if this time might be different. Some worry that we are on the verge of creating a competing intelligent species that could impoverish most of us.Of course, the graveyard of ideas is filled with prophets of doom.
The most sophisticated sex robot today is a product of healthcare. Still, my reporting makes it clear that wrenching change is coming — and much sooner than most people realize.Luckily, San Diego County is home to a thriving cluster of robotics companies that are rapidly shifting from dependence on military contracts to a variety of other industries.Fantastic local job creation could be on the horizon. So might painful job losses.Granted, robot industry Paul Reveres have been riding for a long time.I programmed my first computer-controlled machine in 1979 as a 16-year-old factory worker. Companies lost billions on premature technology before profit-making industrial robots became common.
Yet successful robots have emerged from the factories.The public takes for granted that the U.S. military can send unmanned aircraft to kill enemies – without risking a single American life. And, in real-world road tests, Google's driverless cars have racked up thousands of accident-free miles.How long before a robot cleans my gutters? Breakthroughs typically percolate for years, but then boil over suddenly when business owners learn to exploit them.
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