| Puppyroach said: Isn't it cheaper to have a 35000$ robot than even paying 5$/hour in wage? It's a stupid argument since machines can always be more cost efficient than humans. McDonalds is about service to customers and being a good employer. Therefore 15$/hour minimum wage would be a given for any company that care about those two issues. |
Yes, absolutely.
Even more than that, I saw that the new kiosks that can replace the people taking orders are only around $4k, with no moving parts and absolutely minimal maintenance (all solid state). Even a hypothetical $1/hour slave labor workforce couldn't compete with that.
As tech gets inexorably better, and especially AI, there will be a massive job destruction ironically mauling many of the people who made fun of the people who wanted $15/hr. Police, Firefighters, Soldiers, Construction, Nursing, Surgeons, any and all customer service, all drivers/transport workers, all pilots, and if you go far enough : even artistic/writing/abstract thinking jobs.
It will be either the total end of humanity or we will need a completely new system to replace capitalism, as there will be literally nothing that people can do to earn a living under such a system. Even in the most optimistic terms for a regular human, the leadup to this could be unbelievably dark and violent. Imagine 80%+ global unemployment because you're in an interim period where the vast majority of 'employees' are simply robots and/or AI devices.
In fact, one of the very first things an ASI might learn is that humans utterly failed in their tasks here on earth, and human governments and businesses of every political archetype for the most part exploited, divided, and oppressed their fellow humans for either personal gain, stupidity, or both.
