The less that a worker is paid, the cheaper the result of his labor will be. That’s the economic theory in a nutshell, and it’s playing out throughout the US in the form of undocumented immigrants. One in twenty American workers are undocumented, and they contribute $11 billion to the US economy every year.
The same argument for an undocumented workforce also applies to the emerging robotic workforce. Rather than “stealing” jobs, prices will dramatically be reduced, and will free up human labor for more productive work.
The coming automation of commercial truck-driving is a case in point.
Robots don’t need to be paid, they don’t have families waiting for them at home. They don’t need sleep, they won’t unionize, they don’t feel pain, or any other emotion. That may sound like an argument similar to the one that presaged the rise of the Cylons, but it’s true. A robotic workforce should be welcomed, especially be the most vulnerable in society.
