Uber Rolling Out Driverless Cars

[Al Azar]

My car is a lot more sophisticated than my coffeemaker. My AV will be a lot more sophisticated than my PC.

 

[Silhouette]

Uber Rolling Out Driverless Cars

Yea! Automation kills even more jobs!

Do these cars pay taxes every month, buy homes, sundries or go on vacation? Just wondering how dangerous they are for the economy; let alone the road....

We're going to have to sort that out, because there's no stopping technological progress. We're going to have to learn to look at a lot of things differently and do a lot of things differently.

And that will lead to friction.

That's what I meant when I brought up the Industrial Revolution. Lots and lots of changes and a lot of complaining.

When it's your job that's gone, then we'll "have to sort out all your complaining". And when the economy collapses because nobody can afford the products the robots are making, then we'll also have to "sort it out". But why do the math now? Let's just continue on in a state of pure ignorant bliss!

Canadians did the math. They require a certain percentage of jobs be actual humans, even if they're easily automated. I guess they figured out how to do basic math.

 

[Al Azar]

When it's your job that's gone, then we'll "have to sort out all your complaining". And when the economy collapses because nobody can afford the products the robots are making, then we'll also have to "sort it out". But why do the math now? Let's just continue on in a state of pure ignorant bliss!

Canadians did the math. They require a certain percentage of jobs be actual humans, even if they're easily automated. I guess they figured out how to do basic math.

Well of course we can solve this problem, and perhaps every problem, by government mandate. Do you want to open that can of worms?

We can't do the math now because we don't have all the factors now. The transition is going to take a long time. It won't take as long as it took to replace horse-drawn vehicles with self-propelled vehicles, but we will adjust in same way. Some people will have to learn new skills in their profession, some people will have to shift to other professions, and some people will just whine and demand to be supported by others.

This isn't anything new in our evolution. It's just a new phase.

 

[Al Azar]

This discussion reminds me of a story my grandfather told me when I was young. It was about his Uncle Aaron.

Uncle Aaron worked at Studebaker in South Bend. He didn’t build cars, he was a blacksmith. He built wagons and carriages, what Studebaker manufactured in those days.

Around the turn of the century the Studebaker brothers got very interested in horseless carriages and invested heavily in that new technology. Within a few years almost all their production was trucks and automobiles.

So how did that affect Uncle Aaron? Well, he adapted. Instead of smithing to build wagons, he learned a new skill set so he could stay on and build trucks and cars. What choice did he have? He was a responsible man with a family to support so he did what he had to do - adapt to an ever-changing world.

What he didn’t do was throw up his hands and sit on the porch and grouse about how unfair it all was while others supported him because he was too proud to take other work, work that might have been “beneath” him.

Some jobs will fall by the wayside when we move forward. It’s always been that way. What the people who hold those jobs do about that is entirely up to them. Think about how many telephone servicemen and installers we had just 30 years ago, jobs that don’t exist today. What did those people do? How about TV and radio repairmen? Encyclopedia and brush salesmen? Did they starve in the streets or did they adjust, taking work in different fields when theirs became outdated?

The evolution of robotics may look scary, but it’s nothing new. We will adapt because we have no choice but to adapt. Luckily, we should have plenty of time because this technology is far more complex than setting up a cellular phone network.

 

[g5000]

"The future has arrived. It’s just not evenly distributed yet.”
– William Gibson

 

[g5000]

A century ago, we employed 50 percent of our population in agriculture to feed our nation.

Now, due to the wonders of technology, it only takes about 3 percent of our population to feed us, and they are producing more food than in all of human history.

What would you make of someone decrying the loss of agriculture jobs who felt we needed to employ 50 percent of the country on farms?

You'd say there were seriously misguided, yes?

It's the same thing with these demagogues and manufacturing.

Let's travel back in time 60 years...

FARMER: What will my toddler son do when he grows up if he isn't going to be a farmer, dad blast it?

PSYCHIC: (*peers into crystal ball*) Your son is going to be in charge of the maintenance for satellite uplink/downlink terminals at Verizon.

FARMER: What's a satellite, and WHAT THE HELL IS A VERIZON!?!

PSYCHIC: I don't know, but if I were you, I'd be whipping him with a switch if he doesn't get straight A's in mathematics and science.

FARMER: Will he be handsome? Will he be rich?

PSYCHIC: Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see...

 

[Maryland Patriot]

This discussion reminds me of a story my grandfather told me when I was young. It was about his Uncle Aaron.

Uncle Aaron worked at Studebaker in South Bend. He didn’t build cars, he was a blacksmith. He built wagons and carriages, what Studebaker manufactured in those days.

Around the turn of the century the Studebaker brothers got very interested in horseless carriages and invested heavily in that new technology. Within a few years almost all their production was trucks and automobiles.

So how did that affect Uncle Aaron? Well, he adapted. Instead of smithing to build wagons, he learned a new skill set so he could stay on and build trucks and cars. What choice did he have? He was a responsible man with a family to support so he did what he had to do - adapt to an ever-changing world.

What he didn’t do was throw up his hands and sit on the porch and grouse about how unfair it all was while others supported him because he was too proud to take other work, work that might have been “beneath” him.

Some jobs will fall by the wayside when we move forward. It’s always been that way. What the people who hold those jobs do about that is entirely up to them. Think about how many telephone servicemen and installers we had just 30 years ago, jobs that don’t exist today. What did those people do? How about TV and radio repairmen? Encyclopedia and brush salesmen? Did they starve in the streets or did they adjust, taking work in different fields when theirs became outdated?

The evolution of robotics may look scary, but it’s nothing new. We will adapt because we have no choice but to adapt. Luckily, we should have plenty of time because this technology is far more complex than setting up a cellular phone network.

Uncle Aaron was what we would consider an responsible man.
Problem is that we are not talking about the same thing. Studebaker switched product line from one labor intensive line to another, Uncle Aaron was able to adapt and keep working because Studebaker still needed craftsman, and Uncle Aaron had already proven his value to them.
Had Studebaker gone from their labor business model to a robotic model, Uncle Aaron might not have been so lucky. His options would have been to change to robotics repair or become unemployed.

 

[Al Azar]

This discussion reminds me of a story my grandfather told me when I was young. It was about his Uncle Aaron.

Uncle Aaron worked at Studebaker in South Bend. He didn’t build cars, he was a blacksmith. He built wagons and carriages, what Studebaker manufactured in those days.

Around the turn of the century the Studebaker brothers got very interested in horseless carriages and invested heavily in that new technology. Within a few years almost all their production was trucks and automobiles.

So how did that affect Uncle Aaron? Well, he adapted. Instead of smithing to build wagons, he learned a new skill set so he could stay on and build trucks and cars. What choice did he have? He was a responsible man with a family to support so he did what he had to do - adapt to an ever-changing world.

What he didn’t do was throw up his hands and sit on the porch and grouse about how unfair it all was while others supported him because he was too proud to take other work, work that might have been “beneath” him.

Some jobs will fall by the wayside when we move forward. It’s always been that way. What the people who hold those jobs do about that is entirely up to them. Think about how many telephone servicemen and installers we had just 30 years ago, jobs that don’t exist today. What did those people do? How about TV and radio repairmen? Encyclopedia and brush salesmen? Did they starve in the streets or did they adjust, taking work in different fields when theirs became outdated?

The evolution of robotics may look scary, but it’s nothing new. We will adapt because we have no choice but to adapt. Luckily, we should have plenty of time because this technology is far more complex than setting up a cellular phone network.

Uncle Aaron was what we would consider an responsible man.
Problem is that we are not talking about the same thing. Studebaker switched product line from one labor intensive line to another, Uncle Aaron was able to adapt and keep working because Studebaker still needed craftsman, and Uncle Aaron had already proven his value to them.
Had Studebaker gone from their labor business model to a robotic model, Uncle Aaron might not have been so lucky. His options would have been to change to robotics repair or become unemployed.

Or go into a different line of work, like auto mechanics. When you're on the front lines, you have an opportunity to see things up close and learn.

It's not an ideal analogy. It's just something that was in the back of my mind as I was thinking on this topic and it finally popped into the front, so I thought I'd share it. I guess I remembered it because, at that age, I never knew that Studebaker started out making wagons. I thought that was cool.

 

[MaryL]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

 

[Al Azar]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

 

[MaryL]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

And then, we get Uber robot motel managers. Then what?

 

[Al Azar]

Hey, every time one door closes, another opens. This is the land of opportunity.

 

[Al Azar]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

And then, we get Uber robot motel managers. Then what?

Unless all these robots are union-made, we're going to need an awful lot of robot repair technicians by then.

 

[MaryL]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

And then, we get Uber robot motel managers. Then what?

Unless all these robots are union-made, we're going to need an awful lot of robot repair technicians by then.

And those technicians will be sentient robots. And they won't need unions, all robots don't care about income or health benefits.

 

[Al Azar]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

And then, we get Uber robot motel managers. Then what?

Unless all these robots are union-made, we're going to need an awful lot of robot repair technicians by then.

And those technicians will be sentient robots. And they won't need unions, all robots don't care about income or health benefits.

I'm not comfortable projecting that far into the future. For now, I'm looking forward to my first ride in an AV, taking me to where I want by voice command.

 

[SwimExpert]

And then when the police want to arrest you they will tap in to the system and override the car's inputs, causing the car to deliver you to the PD front doorstep.

As should happen to anyone too stupid to know what the "manual override" does or where the fuse panel is located.

Your optimism is admirable, but mistaken. There will be no manual override. The whole point is to remove direct human control from the equation. Just ask Google. They insist that humans are already more dangerous than robotic driving. Fucking idiots can't seem to get it through their heads that it's the automation that makes things dangerous for humans.

 

[Montrovant]

And then when the police want to arrest you they will tap in to the system and override the car's inputs, causing the car to deliver you to the PD front doorstep.

As should happen to anyone too stupid to know what the "manual override" does or where the fuse panel is located.

Your optimism is admirable, but mistaken. There will be no manual override. The whole point is to remove direct human control from the equation. Just ask Google. They insist that humans are already more dangerous than robotic driving. Fucking idiots can't seem to get it through their heads that it's the automation that makes things dangerous for humans.

 

[Montrovant]

'We're just rentals': Uber drivers ask where they fit in a self-driving future

The technology is already there. They just need to beta test it and prove it is safe and reliable. Then the "expensive" drivers are cut from the cost margins. No thank you, no parting gift, no well wishes, no here is something to get by on since you made it possible for the company to make billions, NOPE it will be 'don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.' By 2018 it will start rolling out to every city across the globe.

There are 2 sides of the coin.
(1) The liberals will scream those poor uber drivers are losing their jobs to a greedy corporation, yet the reality is if uber didn't do this another company would have and then put them out of business. Think blockbuster refusing to change and Netflix innovations them out of the market place. So it would have occurred either way. Humans have been innovating and making things better since the dawn of time. Driverless cars were inevitable.

(2) The heartless conservative will say get a different job and cry on someone else's shoulder. Yes everyone loves innovation until it is their job automated out of existence. The reality is automation continues to grow the amount of jobs continue to shrink. Ex. The amount of people required to make a car has decreased 1000 fold in a just a few decades. The manufacturing and assembly sectors have been hit hardest, but won't end there. Low level service jobs are going to get hit hard. But it won't stop there, the medical field, legal field, accounting field, and really all white collar jobs will be reexamine and the list goes on and on. The number of people entering the workforce will only grow and the job market will only decrease.

What is going to be the solution? I don't know, but I doubt it won't involve less government intervention!

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

And then, we get Uber robot motel managers. Then what?

Unless all these robots are union-made, we're going to need an awful lot of robot repair technicians by then.

And those technicians will be sentient robots. And they won't need unions, all robots don't care about income or health benefits.

At that point we won't need to work, the robots will do it all.

























Or maybe kill us.

 

[MaryL]

I was wondering about all those poor Indian/Russian taxi drivers. Um, we trusted them when they didn't seem to even understand English or basic traffic laws. What do we do with all those "immigrants" losing jobs to robots?

Motel night managers.

Easier travel -> more travel -> better for the lodging industry -> increased demand for desk clerks.

And then, we get Uber robot motel managers. Then what?

Unless all these robots are union-made, we're going to need an awful lot of robot repair technicians by then.

And those technicians will be sentient robots. And they won't need unions, all robots don't care about income or health benefits.

At that point we won't need to work, the robots will do it all.


















Or maybe kill us.

Relax, The robot overlords will lets us kill each other first, they don't care.

 

[SwimExpert]

And then when the police want to arrest you they will tap in to the system and override the car's inputs, causing the car to deliver you to the PD front doorstep.

As should happen to anyone too stupid to know what the "manual override" does or where the fuse panel is located.

Your optimism is admirable, but mistaken. There will be no manual override. The whole point is to remove direct human control from the equation. Just ask Google. They insist that humans are already more dangerous than robotic driving. Fucking idiots can't seem to get it through their heads that it's the automation that makes things dangerous for humans.

It's not sarcasm.