I think even the productivity of engineers and scientists would be severely cut back. I see there being a bunch of side projects that rarely get finished. Of course if everything is so self sufficient that people don't need to work we can probably deal with slowing technological progress.
Slowing? Even lab work is being automatized, sometimes yielding better results than humans would have... and this is only going to get better. Machines that can invent and create new things, which I've heard are already present, will no doubt advance. In addition, it could very well be possible, that the intellect of the populace is exponentially augmented, shall such be the case this will no doubt usher in a faster rate of progress.
I assume, you must employ many people(directly and indirectly), so how you can compare that to the hypothetical society being discussed in this thread is strange.
Yeah people think employing others is nice, but is it necessary for one to employ in order for one to contribute? Would the company that owns a factory that could work without humans(obviously we'd still have human supervision just in case for now...), not contribute to society?
The term "lights out" has been used to describe fully automated factories. Human hands never touch the products during the manufacturing process. IBM already has a keyboard assembly factory in Texas that is already totally lights out. A few engineers and technicians are on-site to support the machines producing computer keyboards. People drive trucks up to the factory doors, delivering raw materials and picking up finished products. The factory operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with down time only for scheduled maintenance or repair.
or this...
"What makes this factory different from other semiconductor factories [is] the automation. The automation looks at the whole factory at once, it knows where every single wafer is. It knows where every single carrier or "foup" is. It knows where it has to go next, it knows what's coming. It can batch orders so you can speed up the process cycle time. It's really a hands-off type facility, where the tools start themselves, they complete the jobs, based on the input from the engineering departments".
...as each boat of 25 300mm wafers is worth around $1m, it is better to get machines to handle them than to allow humans to have any contact at all.
there is already the computing power available to control entire fabs, doing away with the need for humans at that operational level, and that an individual 300mm wafer can be tracked throughout its life at a fab using ID tags.
Intel Corp., the Silicon Valley chip maker, reported third-quarter sales rose 20 percent and net income more than doubled compared with the same period last year. The reason: increased productivity.
Productivity is up just about everywhere. In the third quarter, nonfarm productivity rose 8.1 percent, a rate exceeded only twice in the last decade.
"If you survived the last few years, you've done it by being really mean and lean," said Scott Montrey, a spokesman for the National Assn. of Manufacturers. "And once you get lean and mean, you don't go back to being fat and lazy."
"It is the objective to go nearly fully automated in three to five years. In Taiwan, [the foundries] are stating that as their ultimate goal."
Jack Ghiselly, president of GW Associates, which designs software that connects fab equipment, agreed that humans are a liability where wafers are concerned, not least because of the sheer weight of a full boat of 300mm wafers. US laws prohibit staff from carrying such a weight, making robotic transport essential.
The economic expansion that began in 1990 feels more like a recession to most of the non technical workforce.
Automation costs are dropping almost as fast as the price of personal computers. Capital spending for computers and automation equipment has been brisk during this economic expansion. Increased automation is the direction that most businesses are pursuing today.
That is, at what point is it that you'd say automating stops one's contributions to society? Never, right? As things hasten and less and less supervision is required what will we do? Already you can't say that generating jobs for half a dozen to a few dozen eng./prog. supervising equates the 100s of jobs displaced by going full on auto 3 operation and beyond.
This is the old utopia pipe dream, quite common in Science fiction.
...
The term “Lights Out Factories†is being used to describe fully automated factories. Human hands never touch the products during the manufacturing process. Engineers, technicians and programmers are the primary people needed to support these new factories. Sound futuristic? Think again.
This is now, what will be within a few decades? Within half a century? Within a century? Does thee say it is science fiction, yes we can all say it is science fiction, and close our eyes... as productivity continues to rise, and automation continues in the real world... just don't be surprised to wake up one day and realize "That you better start believing in science fiction stories, cause you're in one".
Oh, we could make laws against this you might say? No, no individual country can stop this, if they did they'd be economically disemboweled in the world market as others proceeded ahead.
And yet what can be automated continues to rise every day....
"Thomas Edison in a box," said Miller, a government contractor at General Dynamics
[It] discovered substances harder than diamonds, coined 1.5 million new English words, and trained robotic cockroaches.
first patent was for a Device for the Autonomous Generation of Useful Information
second patent was for the Self-Training Neural Network Object. Patent Number Two was invented by Patent Number One. Think about that. Patent Number Two was invented by Patent Number One...
Supporters say the technology is the best simulation of what goes on in human brains, and the first truly thinking machine.
This is now would you like to wager what will be available within say 3 to 5 decades?
So... shall it come to pass... that working is no longer necessary... should we not raise the standards of living for all, make those at the bottom of the social ladder rise up, and stand as kin with their brothers at what today would be the highest class, apex of financial success?
Or very bodies perform a wide variety of automated functions to keep us alive... many in the past have wrongly used slaves to have a more relaxed way of life... One day we'll be at the point were we can replace all labor with automated non conscious machina... an extension of our bodies natural abilities.
Should a new nobility not arise, one were consciousness is freed to explore and enjoy the world?
Should such a time come should we force people down into forced labor just because it's better for them? Or should we accept the rise of a new nobility, a new eden, were humans(all beings that are conscious including A.I. if such a thing is possible) are once again free?
Are we going to promote that some of "us" are more equal than others? That only a few deserve the priviledge of being free from work, and that not all deserve this? Or that no longer must there be anyone free from work? Because those in the end are the only ways you'd justify forced labor, when its need is no longer present...
