Thursday, February 06, 2014

On the rise of robots

Martin Wolf reviewing the "The Second Machine Age" by Erk Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee says (google the title if the link does not work, See also Yves Smith (Susan Webber) commentary http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/02/martin-wolf-sounds-cautionary-note-rise-robots.html) in If robots divide us, they will conquer:

"There are good reasons why people should be disturbed by this. First, the lives of those at the bottom might get worse: the authors note that the life expectancy of an American white woman without a high school diploma fell five years between 1990 and 2008. Second, if income becomes too unequal, opportunities for young people dwindle. Third, the wealthy become indifferent to the fate of the rest. Finally, a vast inequality of power emerges, making a mockery of the ideal of democratic citizenship."

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