Getting passed up by robots

[Symbology]

I'm sitting here in the large office building of an insurance company with about 3,000 employees here. Several times a day a mail robot named "Homer" comes by to deliver mail to the Administrative Assistants.

It is basically just a large mobile mail rack mounted on a large set of batteries with wheels and appropriate sensors. It has a yellow flashing light and beeps slowly as it follows an invisible infrared path painted on the carpet. If someone steps in front it stops and beeps impatiently. And otherwise it continues to cut its rut in the carpet. There is a very obvious trail mashed in the carpet from the wheels following the precise path out of the elevator and looping around the floor, several thousand times over the past few years.

The funny thing in the path is it had to go around the hole in the carpet where the latch bars in the door lock the door to the floor when closed. I'm told it kept getting stuck there in the past when its path went over the hole.

Anyway, a little while ago it passed by my cubicle yet again. And I was pondering the mail person who lost their job to this robot -- that I am sure costs much less in benefits, shows up for work more reliably, consumes less coffee, has fewer HR issues, and a higher job retention rate.

I was pondering our current social view that "the mail room" is about the lowest rung on the totem pole at the office, and apparently is not viewed as requiring much to push the cart around the office. Nevermind the smiles, fun, and laughter that mail room people are notorious for infusing into the environment.

So then I began to ponder how the world will begin to change as robots begin to become smarter and smarter - replacing more people, who cease to be as valuable as a robot anymore. Ouch that's gotta hurt. First the mail room, then taxi cabs, and then what? Airline ticket counter people, air force pilots, and astronauts?!? Oh wait... they have already automated the last 3. I think we are in trouble!

I have friends who have been working on genetic algorithms that right code. Basically the old 10,000 monkeys to write Shakespeare issue. I guess us programmers better look out too!

[alexander]

I have seen a few of these mail delivery robots in my time, namely in Boehringer, and GE, just to name a couple of companies i have not worked for. These rolled on a magnetic track, and had a bunch of sensors to not roll over people (yes i did try).

I have had to move some people around in Pfizer, and they had a giant mail room, there were some cool people there, that generally didn't have all that much to do...

air force pilots

they have not automate them, they may have replaced pilots with robots, but the robots are still driven by pilots (isn't that reverse progress?)

I have friends who have been working on genetic algorithms that right code.

I've written a few. and worked (at school and on different projects) with guys that have been doing this since the early lisp days... its fun

infact i know a guy who's in jail... But a couple of years prior to that, he wrote an algo to generate haiku and used it throughout the lit class... he aced it too. clever little proggy

[Symbology]

Originally Posted by alexander

[Pilots]
they have not automate them, they may have replaced pilots with robots, but the robots are still driven by pilots (isn't that reverse progress?)

Ope! You are correct. Though I hear the veteran pilots are complaining they are getting bumped by the 19 year old video game junkies that can outperform them on the remote controls.

[alexander]

Hehe, that is true...

Though, you can never replace these guys in cockpits:

YouTube - MAKS' - Moscow Air Show!