A Conversation With Chat-GPT
I asked Chat GPT this question and this is what it said: “It is unlikely that humanoid robots will completely take over the labor force in the near future. While robots are becoming increasingly capable of performing various tasks, there are still many jobs that require human creativity, decision-making, and emotional intelligence.
Additionally, the cost of developing and maintaining humanoid robots is still relatively high, making it less practical for many businesses to invest in them as a replacement for human workers. Moreover, there are also ethical and social considerations involved in replacing human workers with robots.
However, it is possible that certain industries or specific job roles may see a significant increase in the use of robots and automation in the coming years. This may lead to a shift in the types of skills and education that are in demand in the labor market, and it will be important for individuals and governments to adapt to these changes”.
So, I read this https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/08/humanoid_robot_marks_canada/ article today by Thomas Claburn about how a humanoid robot took a retail job and couldn’t help but wonder what this could lead to. I mean, we’ve all kinda known about robots for a while but no one seemed to care or do much about it. These aren’t the bots we use to day-trade crypto or use to kill each other in Robot Wars! So, I figured now might be a good time to go Deep ‘n Thought about it.
Questions:
1. Why?
Answer: it’s obvious…money. It all comes down to money and profits. Not to mention, these bots won’t call in sick or complain about how they don’t get enough vacation days or threaten to leave if they don’t get a raise. The bots will work and work and work without compensation or complaining. All they need is a little maintenance here and some software updating there.
2. Who will end up jobless first?
Answer: With the recent public introduction of advanced AI, more specifically, Chat GPT, we’ve been forced to consider the real possibility that, as content creators, we could be jobless! Once the panic settled we collectively realized that this AI might actually increase the demand for human-created content-phew, we’re safe for now but for how long?
With that being said, how much more of a threat will the public introduction of an actual humanoid robot employee be? I’m sure these bots will have AI built in so they’d be capable of almost anything! I think it would just be a matter time before every human’s job was in jeopardy. We’ve already seen some fast food restaurants replace humans with kiosks for self-ordering and everyone that’s been to a Walmart knows they don’t invite the self-checkout cashiers to their Christmas parties!
3. When will it become a big enough deal to do something about?
Answer: When it’s too late. In my opinion it’s too late now. With robotics companies like Boston Dynamics making huge advancements it won’t be long before we start seeing the fruits of their labor in public serving food, saving lives, leading the blind and just about anything else any competent human can do because they’re not working so hard for no reason.
4. Will big businesses that can afford to replace 90% of their employees with humanoid bots do it right away or will they do it subtly over the course of months or even years to avoid protest?
Answer: I believe they will add 1 or 2 at a time, which would be just enough to be novelty and not lead to outrage. So subtle that by the time anyone noticed it would be too late. So subtle that if anyone brought attention to the fact that “there seemed to be more bots in the store this month than last” they might be accused of being a conspiracy theorist. Also, non-humanoid bots have been invading the work force at a large scale since the 1990s so we’re all used to it.
5. Is this a good thing?
Answer: Yes and no. It’s good for industry and technological advancement but not good for humans (or maybe not at first thought-see 6 below).
6. CAN WE STOP THIS?!?
Answer: No. The best we can do is embrace this by educating ourselves about the industry and how to be a part of it. And, if you’re the leadership type, be a part of the charge into the future! OR…maybe we can figure out a way for humans to own one or more of these to take their place at work thus allowing us to truly be financially free. We can influence where this goes by keeping informed and including ourselves in the legislative process ensuring that we aren’t forgotten about.
After all, if humans are jobless this would lead to extreme poverty which would lead to economic crisis because who would be buying the services and products being offered and produced by these humanoid robots?
Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts: This wasn’t written to create panic or fear. And , I’m sure I’m not the first or last to write about it. We may not be able to create the robots (yet) that will take our jobs but maybe we can buy them before the corporations do and rent them to the corporations and let the robots go to work for us! We win!
Disclaimer: I’m not a financial advisor and nothing in this piece is absolute truth-nothing ever is. These are only my thoughts and opinions mixed with a few facts-I’d love to know what you think.
P.S. None of this was written using AI
Nice post!