I stumbled on this fascinating article in Android Authority recently that hints at where I think the global economy is headed far in the future as factory automation becomes more widespread.
On Chinese social networking and chat sites such as WeChat, QQ, Zhihu, and others, there are groups in which you can pay a small fee and then receive compliments from people in the group for a pre-determined amount of time.
In one group CNBC investigated, you would pay 15 Chinese yuan (~$2.24) for three minutes of compliments or 25 yuan (~$3.73) for five minutes.
Before you receive your praise, you can tell the group personal things about yourself so the group members know what kind of compliments to give you. In one example, a user told a group they had just purchased a new house and spend a lot of time there alone. One of the responses to this was, “This is awesome! Now you have more spare time. Take this opportunity to enjoy your ‘me time.’ One can be very happy by himself. And you have us here!”—C. Scott Brown, Android Authority
There has been a lot of unwarranted hysteria around manufacturing automation putting people out of work and what it’s impact on society will be. The problem is that most people fail to recognize that factory automation is driving prices down. Also, factory automation can only proceed to the level which the market can absorb it. High unemployment exerts negative pressure on factory automation. It’s a balance like tea can only absorb so much sugar. I’ve spent a large part of my career evaluating automation products and I can tell you that a large percentage of the proposals fail because it doesn’t make financial sense.
So how will factory automation impact society? It means you won’t need as much money to survive in the future. Everything will be cheaper. Cars, clothing, furniture, and even houses will all cost less as automation becomes more prevalent. We can already see the impact on society over the past 100 years. At one time, only very wealthy people ate meat on a regular basis or had a large wardrobe due to how many people were required to produce these products.
Human labor will drift to where it’s required as it always has. That means work that can’t be automated. No matter how good artificial intelligence becomes, there is no substitute for 1-1 human interaction. One day companionship and recreation will be something that people will pay for. It’ll be small micro-payments that are transferred in the background according to preset guidelines. This amazing story about people willing to pay for compliments is the beginning of something new.
In the future, work will become more creative and enjoyable. People won’t need as much to survive because everything will be cheaper. Others will have more to spend. Imagine earning a living by having dinner with someone or simply stopping by to visit. You would build a clientele who would recommend you to others.
This kind of work wouldn’t be for everyone. But for those who like to spend time with others, it would be much more enjoyable than manning a machine station in a factory not being allowed to talk to anyone.
In one group CNBC investigated, you would pay 15 Chinese yuan (~$2.24) for three minutes of compliments or 25 yuan (~$3.73) for five minutes.
Before you receive your praise, you can tell the group personal things about yourself so the group members know what kind of compliments to give you. In one example, a user told a group they had just purchased a new house and spend a lot of time there alone. One of the responses to this was, “This is awesome! Now you have more spare time. Take this opportunity to enjoy your ‘me time.’ One can be very happy by himself. And you have us here!”—C. Scott Brown, Android Authority
There has been a lot of unwarranted hysteria around manufacturing automation putting people out of work and what it’s impact on society will be. The problem is that most people fail to recognize that factory automation is driving prices down. Also, factory automation can only proceed to the level which the market can absorb it. High unemployment exerts negative pressure on factory automation. It’s a balance like tea can only absorb so much sugar. I’ve spent a large part of my career evaluating automation products and I can tell you that a large percentage of the proposals fail because it doesn’t make financial sense.
So how will factory automation impact society? It means you won’t need as much money to survive in the future. Everything will be cheaper. Cars, clothing, furniture, and even houses will all cost less as automation becomes more prevalent. We can already see the impact on society over the past 100 years. At one time, only very wealthy people ate meat on a regular basis or had a large wardrobe due to how many people were required to produce these products.
Human labor will drift to where it’s required as it always has. That means work that can’t be automated. No matter how good artificial intelligence becomes, there is no substitute for 1-1 human interaction. One day companionship and recreation will be something that people will pay for. It’ll be small micro-payments that are transferred in the background according to preset guidelines. This amazing story about people willing to pay for compliments is the beginning of something new.
In the future, work will become more creative and enjoyable. People won’t need as much to survive because everything will be cheaper. Others will have more to spend. Imagine earning a living by having dinner with someone or simply stopping by to visit. You would build a clientele who would recommend you to others.
This kind of work wouldn’t be for everyone. But for those who like to spend time with others, it would be much more enjoyable than manning a machine station in a factory not being allowed to talk to anyone.
RSS Feed