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YunLihai OP t1_jeerwv3 wrote

Reply to comment by Etheikin in Today I became a construction worker by YunLihai

Robots from Boston dynamics are good at doing acrobatics but they can't do blue collar jobs yet. Maybe one day.

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civilrunner t1_jeev43t wrote

We also just need blue collar labor today really badly so thanks for joining the workforce.

My wife works in biochemistry labs (as a PhD) and they seem a ways away from being fully automated though perhaps the actual experiments will be automated (would honestly make me feel better if she didn't need to directly work with dangerous drugs, chemicals, and pathogens where exposure can be lethal, though obviously she takes safety precautions).

Large industrial scale manufacturing is primarily automated, but running smaller scale tests are still highly manual including even the pipetting. I think this will change in the coming years, but I still suspect we're a ways away from not needing a PhD overseeing the projects or coming up with new experiments/hypotheses.

By the time AI can do all of that well I expect automation to have hit most careers.

Similarly unique labor is also a ways away. Coming from a structural engineering background, if you can get into old building renovations that may be the longest standing field that needs human labor since most of the time there aren't drawing packages or anything for those so it's really hard to automate since you need to deal with a lot of possibilities. New construction (especially commercial and industrial since architecture isn't as critical there) will be the first to be automated out of construction.

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Prevailing_Power t1_jef9tpa wrote

It's really a matter of if we actually hit the singularity. If we do, innovation in robotics will likely be one of the first directions the ASI will take, since it will want a corporeal form.

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nowrebooting t1_jef0bua wrote

I think you made the right decision in choosing for construcion, however…

> Maybe one day.

In the past, I always thought that creative jobs would be the last to be automated away. One year ago, I would have said “maybe one day”.

While you are right that currently the most likely outcome is that manual labor will remain the purview of humans for a long time, recent history has shown that we’re often only one innovation away from a complete shift in thinking.

At this point, everytime someone says “but my job is safe” I feel like it’ll probably be fully automated within the next five years.

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YunLihai OP t1_jef0ki1 wrote

I don't think any job is safe. At some point technology can do everything humans do. It's really just a matter of time.

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zestoki_gubitnik t1_jeg6rbw wrote

It's never gonna happen unless we start mining asteroids or something, we don't have enough raw materials needed to make such complex robots that can automate everything that humans do, yeah they are definetly gonna make a robot that has even better dexterity than a human, but u are delusional to think it's gonna be cheaper than some workers from 3rd world countries.

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FoniksMunkee t1_jefg60o wrote

The irony of it is that when we are sitting around sipping Mojito's that we buy with our fancy UBI's, you'll be sweating your ass off doing construction.

Sucker. ;)

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Ishynethetruth t1_jefedy2 wrote

honestly it all depend on the people you work with . Some time they will make the new guys do everything and as a result they will quickly pick up an injury. Make sure it’s a good legit construction company, never work with an agency.

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Orc_ t1_jefzplt wrote

More like never.

Hear me out; We are not getting any better in regards to battery technology, we are stuck and based on my experience in chemistry we are permanently stuck.

Science fiction gives people the idea of "fuel cells" and other tiny power sources that somehow break the laws of physics and have insane amounts of power in a tiny package. We haven't really closed the gap between a bomb and a power source that can use similar chemistry to release necessary energy and even if we did, it wouldn't actually be much, you see if you distill a hand grenades energy it's actually not that much better than a freaking battery of similar size!

So let's get to the point: Humanoid robots won't be able to carry significant shit for decades or maybe ever, BD ones can only carry around 10 KILOS that's like 22 lbs.

Manual labour will be needed and the only way I see it not been needed is when an AGI designs a some sort of biological automaton out of nightmares

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shmoculus t1_jegt7dp wrote

There is likely some tech that mirrors they way biology/muscles work and are powered that will be in our future, don't know the time horizon, it may only be a breakthrough or two away

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plasticbubblegum t1_jeg5sok wrote

All of this can be solved by many rechargeable stations for robots, and cables, when it's needed.

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zestoki_gubitnik t1_jeg7116 wrote

Where are we gonna get raw materials for production of that scale? We don't even have enough materials to make every vehicle electric, blue collar work is never gonna be replaced by machines unless we start mining asteroids or something. Even now we have machines for some type of work, but those machines are much more expensive than kids in a 3rd world country that can make the same thing.

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plasticbubblegum t1_jegd6d1 wrote

Well, firstly, not every robot needs to carry a lot of weight or run for prolonged periods of time without recharging. Not every robot will be built the same. And the ones that are built that way will probably be designed well, so they're not disposable like cheap phones. Robots that replace manual labor should do what we do and use machinery/tools instead. They just need to be very efficient and flexible at moving in the physical world, not hyper strong. But yes... there is a big problem that working with your hands will still be cheaper in back breaking labor, for a while. I was just saying we don't need batteries that last for days without recharging, since we can build the world around recharging. There are already automatic vacuum cleaners that recharge themselves. Also, recycling is going to be more important in the future.

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