What happened to having overlords?

[vaskidmark]

From Instapundit:

WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY: It’s Time To Welcome Our New Robot Underlings.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/robots/its-time-to-welcome-our-robot-underlings-12858402?click=pm_latest

Yesterday Boston-based startup Rethink Robotics unveiled Baxter, maybe the only factory robot in living memory to generate prelaunch buzz.

Baxter is a vaguely humanoid model—a legless, two-armed, tablet-headed line worker. Its primary selling points are its low price—$22,000, exponentially less than most manufacturing bots—and the assurance that it won’t kill anyone. Baxter can perform a range of repetitive tasks without the need to retrofit assembly lines and with minimal investment. It can even be trained, with operators initially guiding it through specific motions. It’s the closest thing anyone has seen to a general-purpose blue-collar robot.

stay safe.

[dogmush]

The UAW is going to *expletive deleted*it itself.

[HankB]

Even in China, legions of robots are being built . . . these with knives!

http://laughingsquid.com/chinese-noodle-slicing-robot/

[Devonai]

While they tout the relatively low initial cost, they fail to mention the endless supply of malt liquor they'll need to keep functioning properly.

[RevDisk]

It is going to get real interesting when technology becomes advanced enough to replace the overwhelming majority of repetitive tasks. It's happened in America. We still manufacture a LOT of things. With fewer and fewer people.

[makattak]

While they tout the relatively low initial cost, they fail to mention the endless supply of malt liquor they'll need to keep functioning properly.

No no no. This is the BAXTER model, not the Bender model.

[Tallpine]

It is going to get real interesting when technology becomes advanced enough to replace the overwhelming majority of repetitive tasks. It's happened in America. We still manufacture a LOT of things. With fewer and fewer people.

It's the twentieth twenty-first century.  We'll all be sitting on cushions and eating ice cream.

 

[MechAg94]

The UAW is going to *expletive deleted* itself.

If they are smart, they will try to sneak some programming in to make it want to join a union and strike for higher wages.  Striking might be a problem, but getting to do a slow down would be easier.

[Tuco]

Funny, I just finished, at lunchtime, reading Vonnegut's "Player Piano".
I, for one, welcome our new, robot designing and controlling overlords.