Trump's Treasury Secretary is Dead Wrong on Machines Taking Jobs

In a recent interview, Trump's Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, said he wasn't worried about artificial intelligence taking American jobs.  In his opinion, we are anywhere from 50 to 100 years away from that happening.  Thus, the U.S. treasury shouldn't be affected by the drop in tax revenues that may occur from people's jobs being replaced.

But, he's dead wrong.

We are already seeing jobs replaced by artificial intelligence (AI).  And, have for years.  When you self-checkout at the grocery store, make no mistake, those devices replaced people. Wendy's recently announced that it will install order-taking kiosks at 1,000 stores around the country.   McDonald's is going to do the same with 14,000 stores.  A company called Miso has already perfected an AI robot called "Flippy" that can cook hamburgers, flip them, and then, place them on a bun.

Besides Google's self-driving cars that may replace taxi drivers, Mercedes is currently testing long-haul self-driving trucks that may be ready to hit the roads in 2025.  A company called Knightscope is already selling a fully autonomous robot security guard.  There is also a bricklaying robot called "SAM" that can automatically lay bricks at a cost 7 times cheaper than a human. The list of these human job replacement machines and devices is growing by the day.

The government needs to wake up to that fact before we have too many people in this country out of work, not paying taxes, and instead, needing money from the Treasury to survive.

References:

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says AI taking US jobs is '50-100 more years' away — but it's already beginning to happen: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-robots-are-coming-whether-mnuchin-says-so-or-not-2017-3

Robots Are Slashing U.S. Wages and Worsening Pay Inequality: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-28/robots-are-slashing-u-s-wages-and-worsening-pay-inequality

Thanks To 'Fight For $15' Minimum Wage, McDonald's Unveils Job-Replacing Self-Service Kiosks Nationwide: https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/11/29/thanks-to-fight-for-15-minimum-wage-mcdonalds-unveils-job-replacing-self-service-kiosks-nationwide/#723eceda4fbc

There’s Now a Robot That Can Flip Burgers Fortune Editors Mar 14, 2017: http://fortune.com/2017/03/14/miso-robotics-flippy-burger-flipping-robot/

Wendy’s Is Going to Install Self-Ordering Machines in 1,000 Stores: http://fortune.com/2017/02/27/wendys-self-ordering-kiosks/

The long-haul truck of the future: https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/innovation/the-long-haul-truck-of-the-future/

Knightscope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knightscope

Meet SAM, Brick Laying Robot That Does The Work Of 6 Humans: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-27/meet-sam-brick-laying-robot-does-work-6-humans

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Will Socialism Be The Only Answer In A World Run By Robots?

We already have cars being tested that drive themselves.  So, when they are finally perfected and approved, why would we need cab drivers?  What about bus drivers and truck drivers?  In Nevada, German truck manufacturer Daimler is already testing a self-driving truck. Microsoft has replaced its human security guards patrolling it's Silicon Valley campus with 5 foot tall robots that use artificial intelligence to navigate and detect security problems.  There's even a robot capable of sorting items at recycling centers.

The reality is, that an increasing number of jobs are being replaced by intelligent machines.  So rapidly, in fact, that some experts believe that 30% of all jobs will be replaced by 2025.

The 30% of workers that do lose their jobs will no longer be paying into Social Security and Medicare to support the millions already living off of those two programs. They'll pay no taxes that typically support welfare and wards of the state. So, how is society going to take care of the millions of workers forced into unemployment by these machines?  I think initially, the politicians will try to stop robot takeover through a tax on every one being deployed; arguing the taxes will be needed to pay for all those people who lost their jobs.   Eventually, though, the only answer will be to allow robot takeover and dump capitalism in favor of socialism with everyone being paid by the state and allotted certain necessities for free.  And, in the irony of all ironies, capitalism, the chief driver of innovation in the world, will die by its own hands.

References:

Self-driving Cars Are No Longer a Thing of the Future | TIME: http://time.com/3661446/self-driving-driverless-cars-ces/

The World’s First Self-Driving Semi-Truck Hits the Road: The World’s First Self-Driving Semi-Truck Hits the Road

Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus is protected by robots:http://www.dailydot.com/technology/microsoft-robot-security-guards/

Green machine: Intelligent robot system recycles waste: http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/07/tech/zenrobotics-recycling-robot/