全 72 件のコメント

[–]BrujahRage 8ポイント9ポイント  (1子コメント)

If it's important enough to have a person do it, it's important enough to pay that person a living wage. If your business model is basically "Make millions/billions by ensuring we pay our workforce so little they qualify for public assistance" you suck as a human being, and your business model is flawed. In my opinion, this is the failure of economics, that willingness to turn a blind eye to the question of moral judgement.

So humor me, once we replace those people with machinery what do we do with the people? What jobs do you train them for that aren't going to be automated in 5 or 10 or 15 years? Some people have proposed a parallel economy where people would willingly pay extra for human made objects, ignoring the Walmartification of our economy (the public has spoken, and what they want is cheap Chinese goods at the lowest possible price). Some people suggest going into the arts or performance, as if it weren't already hard enough to make it as an artist or performer already, let's glut the market with even more competition. Some other people suggest Universal Basic Income as the solution, and that makes a certain amount of sense, if we think about money as being the blood of the economy, then there needs to be a mechanism to keep it circulating, but (here in America, at least) I think our leadership is too corrupt to make it work. So, for those of you cheering because those filthy poors are taking it on the chin for having the temerity to demand a living wage, what would you do with the people?

[–]0_- 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

People do not enter the corporate equation, a living wage is philosophical at best without dramatic and revolutionary events, which the American public has been reluctant to engage in. Manufactured consent and superficial egotistical divides have kept people both complacent and fragmented while authoratarian and well organized corporations cement their roots. Nationalization of corporate assets is what is unfortunately required. It will not be pretty.

[–]Geohump 20ポイント21ポイント  (4子コメント)

No. Wrong. the minimum wage is not the main incentive to automate.

Robot powered restaurants will arrive just as soon as the automation works well enough.

Elimination of labor alone is the incentive to automate.

Why :

There is no minimum wage low enough to override the benefits of automation.

Even if the Minimum Wage was One Dollar per hour, it will still be cheaper to use automation over time.

Why: All ancillary costs and risks are reduced or eliminated.

Examples:

  • liability and workers comp issues, reduced or eliminated
  • unemployment insurance reduced or eliminated
  • training - eliminated
  • supervising - eliminated
  • scheduling - eliminated
  • employee turnover - eliminated
  • Internal security and theft issues: reduced or eliminated
  • no-show employees - eliminated
  • Hourly labor rates - eliminated

Example: Fast Food place open from 6am to 2 am, 7 employees on all shifts, at $10 per hour

That's 20 hours, times 7 workers, time $10 hour= 20 * 7 * 10

Thats $1,400 per day in labor costs.

Thats $511,000 year. Over Half a Million Dollars.

Suppose we cut the pay in half? to $5 per hour?

That's $255,500 - Still over a Quarter of a Million additional profit. - on labor costs alone, that's more than enough to pay for automating one small fast food place.

Suppose we cut the pay to $1 per hour: Thats $51,100 per year in labor.

You still automate because after three years, you would break even and pull in pure profit with no labor costs.

yes, this sucks for us.

We need to buy the automation companies.

[–]ChickenOfDoom 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

It is AN incentive though. If we had the technology right now to completely replace 7 restaurant workers with machines for only 1.5 million dollars with no upkeep costs, they would have already done it. The higher the minimum wage, the bigger the automation budget becomes.

[–]SplitReality 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

At the rate that technology is currently improving, how long does that really buy you before automation is economically the cheaper option? One, two, three years? That is insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately we are going to have to solve the problem of technological unemployment.

In addition my guess is that cost isn't the thing that is holding off automation. I don't think many companies are looking at fully functional automation systems and saying to themselves, "Hmmm...I'd get that if only it were a bit cheaper." I think there is a cultural transition that has to happen for owners to even begin to look to automate.

Then I think the tech has to come around to offer working solutions that a medium and small business could use. It won't work if it takes a factory with conveyor belts to make a happy meal. As the prior poster pointed out, once the costs are even in the ballpark it'd be a no brainer to automate. The only difference at that point is how long it would take to break even.

[–]ChickenOfDoom 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

I don't think many companies are looking at fully functional automation systems and saying to themselves, "Hmmm...I'd get that if only it were a bit cheaper." I think there is a cultural transition that has to happen for owners to even begin to look to automate.

Automation is not just replacing people with robots, it's finding ways to get money more efficiently. Like the article describes, they are already doing this as hard as they can, taking every available step to get more out of fewer workers. The 'culture' for corporations is all about the money, and they will adopt new technology the instant the numbers add up.

[–]Zulban 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

That's not how people think. It's not about a mathematical calculation on which choice is most efficient economically. Restaurant owners are scared of technology or totally ignorant of it. Whereas something like doubling the minimum wage redirects that fear and makes them consider alternatives. When a specific automation is factually but marginally better than human workers, a vast majority of people will not opt to use it.

Your comment only makes sense where people are totally rational thinkers, and we know they're not.

[–]human_machine 4ポイント5ポイント  (3子コメント)

Hooters is gonna get weird.

No server bot, no one believes you're going to veterinary school but the orange hot pants and the fake ass in it are oddly appealing. The weird tits in the tank top could use some work. Ah, fuck it, when's your shift over?

[–]59ekim 4ポイント5ポイント  (2子コメント)

[–]human_machine 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

I think they'd sell a lot more beer(goggles).

[–]59ekim 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

I'm sure there's already a subculture that demands this. The backrooms would be successful.

[–]leafhog 7ポイント8ポイント  (5子コメント)

And that is a good thing. Work that doesn't have enough economic utility to support a human needs to be automated.

[–]Heaney555 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

Only if the society provides the human another way of being supported.

[–]59ekim 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

Except capitalist automation is inevitable, and its subsequent fall is too. Which may sound like bad news, and it kind of is, but only temporarily. What has to be done to avoid destabilization is the decoupling of labor and income, until money can be removed from acquiring needs, at least. This is why so many people support an unconditional basic income, which so controversial, even on the internet, for some reason. Ultimately society should move toward a resource based economy, which I suggest you investigate.

[–]Siskiyou 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

I think that a kiosk can do a better job of handling the ordering process than a human. As a side note, I prefer using the automated check out lanes at Walgreens rather than having a clerk do it.

[–]SplitReality 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

In addition to that, let me order and pay through an app on my phone so my food is ready when I get there. Why should I have to stand in line at all? It could also save my favorite selections to offer one touch ordering.

[–]valvesmith 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

Sheetz has them beat by ten years, plus they have retail gasoline and a car wash.

[–]pickengrin 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

I've been saying this for ages... The fast food workers have done this to themselves. Entrepreneurs are gonna entrepreneu

[–]TotesMessenger 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads. (Info / Contact)