Chinese factory replaces 90% of human workers with robots

Should we be happy or feel sad about this development...How about the social costs of this massive shift?

Chinese factory replaces 90% of human workers with robots. Production rises by 250%, defects drop by 80%

Mihai Andrei February 3, 2017


After a factory in Dongguan, China, replaced most of its workers with robots, it witnessed a spectacular rise in productivity.

Image not from said factory. Image credits: Industriemuseum Chemnitz.

While some of the world’s leaders are obsessed with keeping people out of their country, an unspoken entity is slowly but certainly taking our jobs: robots. It’s been long discussed that robots and computers will start taking our jobs “in the near future” — well that near future is upon us and we’re not really prepared to deal with it. Of course, some jobs are more at risk than others, are few are as threatened as factory jobs.
According to Monetary Watch, the Changying Precision Technology Company focuses on the production of mobile phones and uses automated production lines. The factory used to be run by 650 employees, but now just 60 people get the entire job done, while robots take care of the rest. Luo Weiqiang, the general manager, says the number of required employees will drop to 20 at one point. Despite this reduction in staff, not only is the factory producing more equipment (a 250% increase), but it’s also ensuring better quality.
Without a doubt, this is something we’ll be hearing more and more of in the future. Adidas is one of the companies which has already announced a shift towards robot-only factories, and it’s not just factories that will eliminate workers for robots. According to a report created by Dr Carl Benedikt Frey and Associate Professor Michael Osborne from the University of Oxford, there’s an over 90% chance that robots will take over the jobs of (long list ahead): masons, budget analysts, tax examiners and collectors, butchers and meat cutters, retail salespersons, geological and petroleum technicians, hand sewers, abstract searchers, watch repairers, new account clerks, tax preparers, order clerks, loan officers, legal secretaries, radio operators, tellers, hotel and restaurant hostesses, cashiers, real estate brokers, polishing workers, dental technicians, pesticide sprayers, telephone operators, cooks (not chefs), rock splitters, gaming dealers, and many, many more. Yeah, that’s a long list, and it goes on for much longer. Whether we admit it or not, we’re stepping well into the bounds of “robots taking over our jobs” and I’m not sure any economy is able to handle this at the moment.
I’ve got some very mixed feelings about this. Firstly, this is indeed exciting. We’re entering a new age of automation, and technology is truly reaching impressive peaks. The process is better and it’s also more resource efficient, which is also good. I’m also happy that humans don’t have to work repetitive, unchallenging jobs and can instead focus on other things. The problem is … there might not be other things. In fact there most definitely aren’t. Those people are out of a job, and there’s a good chance they’ll have a very difficult time finding new jobs. Simply put, our society isn’t prepared to integrate these people in different jobs and naturally this will cause huge problems.

http://www.zmescience.com/other/economics/china-factory-robots-03022017/

Automation, no matter where one lives can never be matched by human labor.
Technology will make many jobs obsolete in the future. Even many service jobs can be automated.

Human beings are uniquely needed in few professions such as elder care, patient care, selling, R&D etc
But there will not be enough job in the future creating a huge division between those who are the 'employers/employed' and those whose skills have no value. That can create human revolution involving violence.

In another 50 years the world will be very different from what it is now due to the way this automation is happening.

Amazon for example is already experimenting with ware houses floating in the sky with robots and drones doing the delivery. I personally know people working on the area of 'computer vision' to initially automate simpler tasks of stocking and removing items from warehouses using robotics arms.

Concerns about technology replacing workers isn’t new. Over the past 200 years, mechanical looms replaced artisans, electric streetlights displaced lamplighters, cars replaced horses (thus limiting the need for blacksmiths) and personal computers diminished the need for typists. Technological advances have long taken a toll on specific professions and industries. They also raise our overall living standards.
The difference today is that digitization is dramatically reducing transaction costs and helping spread the changes farther and faster than before. Moreover, a new kind of automation—artificial intelligence—puts different kinds of jobs at risk than the mechanical automation of previous eras. Particularly affected are tasks that require cognitive skills, many of which are found in middle-skill jobs.

In November, McKinsey Global Institute published a report suggesting that based on current technologies, most jobs (95%) won’t be jeopardized over the next five years. But new technology will change them. Authors Michael Chui, James Manyika, and Mehdi Miremadi looked at 2,000 distinct types of work activities in 800 occupations and found that 45% of work activities could be automated, affecting workers in a wide variety of roles. For example, up to 20% of the activities of a chief executive could be automated, such as analyzing operations data and reviewing status reports.

In 2015, Autor published a paper in the Journal of Economic Perspectives that explained why automation advances up to this point have not eliminated most jobs. Autor points out we’ve seen automation in agriculture and manufacturing replace “physically demanding, dangerous, and menial work,” creating safer, less onerous working conditions for many in the middle class. Moreover, many productivity gains from workforce automation have increased the demand for goods and services, in turn increasing the demand for new forms of labor.
Change is upon us. As McKinsey’s authors advise, in this era of rapid technological changes, the smart approach is to keep track of the speed and direction of automation, understand the needs and requirements to stay competitive, and determine where, when and how much to invest in automation.

http://www.industryweek.com/automation/future-automation-and-your-job