DailyDirt: What Will The Robot Economy Look Like?

Algorithms have already quietly crept into nearly every part of our lives, helping us to search the internet and connect with friends and to find matching personalities for dates. Soon, we'll have cars that drive us -- and some old Yakov Smirnoff jokes won't make any sense. But how will people adapt to a 'robot economy' where everything is done by robots -- and we can't even play games without knowing that the computers are just letting us win?

• Robots are taking over, and we still haven't quite figured out how to tame them if they do decide to turn on us when they cross the uncanny valley. They're supposed to make our lives easier, but we might want to decide what that really means before we're trapped in feeding pens. [url]
• Is China embracing robots by planning for millions of low-skill workers to be replaced by machines? China wants to retain its manufacturing dominance through 2025 with automation efforts that could keep manufacturing costs low and improve productivity. But if future robots are capable of doing more dexterous tasks, presumably they should be able to do them anywhere (and closer to the market where manufactured goods are actually bought). [url]
• Will automation create jobs or just destroy them? Tech optimists seem to think that we're headed for a life of leisure as robots take over menial tasks and open up more careers that require compassion, creativity and leadership skills. Maybe we'll have more philosophers and physicists -- and basic income guarantees in a Star Trek-like future. [url]

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