The Robot uprising has had a minor setback as a Pasadena burger joint was forced to take its brand new burger-flipping robot, "Flippy," offline after the first day due to slow performance, reports USA Today.
Except, it wasn't Flippy's fault.
The restaurant, Cali Burger, says that while Flippy held up its end of the deal - there weren't enough to prepare the patties fast enough prior to cooking, nor finish the burgers with all the fixings, according to Chief Technology Officer for the Cali Group.
The robotic arms of "Flippy's Kitchen" is still on static display at Caliburger. The stage where patrons would normally line up for a peek was dark when USA TODAY visited Thursday, and there was little sign that Flippy would be coming back, but just when was "TBA" -- or to be announced. The restaurant was operating without the robot using its regular, human-run kitchen
Meanwhile, Flippy's "human helpers are also getting extra training to help the robot keep up with demand." In other words, the kids looking forward to that $15 / hour minimum wage in 2022 are learning how to dig their own graves more efficiently.
Goodbye jobs
As automation and robotics steadily replace cashiers, cooks, assembly line workers, taxi drivers and all sorts of other vocations, low income workers are the first in line to feel the pain.
Last November we reported on Walmart's new DARPA-funded autonomous cleaning robot, dubbed Emma; an A.I.-navigated system capable of operating floor care equipment on night shifts which can clean an entire store without human interaction.
"Emma" - test bedded in five Walmart locations, was developed by San Diego-based startup Brain Corp., which works with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop novel machine learning algorithms that focus on taking jobs from middle class Americans. BrainOS is the company’s flagship product that enables robots to “perceive their environments, control motion, and navigate using visual cues and landmarks, while seeing and avoiding people and obstacles”.
The machine resembles a traditional scrubber but comes equipped with similar technology used in self-driving cars: extensive cameras, sensors, algorithms and Lidar for navigational mapping. Think of it as a Roomba crossed with a Tesla. A human must first drive the device to train it on a path; it can then operate largely independently, including when a store is open to customers. If a person or object gets in its way, it momentarily pauses and adjusts course. -Linkedin
In San Francisco, a local startup called Café X is rolling out robots which will make all manner of beverages for all the unemployed baristas. Drinks can be ordered in advance through a smartphone app, or you can simply walk into a location and use a touch-screen kiosk.
The robot—an arm, really—brings a cup to and from a machine that actually makes the coffee, or pulls cups of cold brew from a tap. When you enter a numerical code on a touch screen in front of the robot’s, er, cage, it places your drink on a platform so it can be lowered into a slot, kind of like a prize in a claw machine at an arcade. If you need help figuring out how to order, or finding a lid for your cup, there are also some human employees on hand (well, for now, at least). -technologyreview.com
And in China, shyrocketing wages have caused the rapid adoption of robot workers in manufacturing industries, cementing the country's position as a world leader in industrial automation.
Japanese company Fanuc, as Bloomberg Businessweek reports, manufactures robots that can perform all manner of functions. From constructing complex motors to making injection-molded parts and electrical components. At pharmaceutical companies, Fanuc’s sorting robots categorize and package pills. At food-packaging facilities, they slice, squirt, and wrap edibles.
Indeed, all we're going to need in short order is flying cars and a robot maid before we're living in The Jetsons.
Universal Basic Income or Cheap Everything or Both?
While people like Elon Musk believe that automation will ultimately require a universal basic income (UBI), others have suggested that automation will reduce the cost of living so substantially that we'll be in a cashless "Star Trek" utopia where scarcity doesn't exist.
There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better ... I want to be clear. These are not things I wish will happen; these are things I think probably will happen. -Elon Musk
New York businessman Andrew Yang - founder of Venture for America and 2020 presidential hopeful, has a simple philosophy: America needs to radically restructure its society to prevent robots from causing Great Depression-level unemployment...
...At the core of his philosophy is something called the "Freedom Dividend"...essentially a rebranded take on UBI....
To fend off the coming robots, Mr. Yang is pushing what he calls a “Freedom Dividend,” a monthly check for $1,000 that would be sent to every American from age 18 to 64, regardless of income or employment status. These payments, he says, would bring everyone in America up to approximately the poverty line, even if they were directly hit by automation. Medicare and Medicaid would be unaffected under Mr. Yang’s plan, but people receiving government benefits such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could choose to continue receiving those benefits, or take the $1,000 monthly payments instead. -NYT
According to Yang, major disruptions in society caused by robots are closer than many Americans understand...
"All you need is self-driving cars to destabilize society," Mr. Yang, 43, said over lunch at a Thai restaurant in Manhattan last month, in his first interview about his campaign. In just a few years, he said, "we’re going to have a million truck drivers out of work who are 94 percent male, with an average level of education of high school or one year of college."
"That one innovation," he continued, "will be enough to create riots in the street. And we’re about to do the same thing to retail workers, call center workers, fast-food workers, insurance companies, accounting firms." -NYT
Perhaps it will be a combination of both in varying proportions; a basic, socialized, crappy McLifestyle for low skilled individuals, while those who specialize in jobs which robots haven't yet usurped will be able to upgrade to the bourgeoisie package. Kind of like today only with robot strippers and self-driving cars.
Or, perhaps after we've unleashed armies of robots throughout every tier of society, AI will deduce that human beings are cancer and we'll end up in battery pods - if we're not floating around in them already.
Comments
Been telling you for more than 8 years.
Never send a human to do a machine's job.
poor cypher, he had severe blue balls.
In reply to Been telling you for 8 years… by Rainman
"Flippy flips out"
In reply to poor cypher, he had severe… by Give_me_liberty_or
"Flippy Shits The Bed"
In reply to "Flippy flips out" by whatswhat1@yahoo.com
this emma has considerably more personality than most of the women i meet these days. PLUS, she won't marry and divorce you for your money. things are looking up
In reply to "Flippy Shits The Bed" by Bone-Machine
That only happens if you are stupid enough to get married (full disclosure: I was that stupid once). Monogamy is for pussies who can't pick up women.
In reply to this emma has considerably… by jbvtme
Grab em by their pussies !
In reply to That only happens if you are… by crossroaddemon
"Been telling you for more than 8 years. Never send a human to do a machine's job."
Your wife says the same thing when she uses her vibrator.
In reply to Grab em by their pussies ! by SethPoor
What is the point of a $60k robot arm that can only flip burgers?
How many 'smart' left coast soyboys designed this thing anyway?
In reply to Your wife says by Dsyno
It probably took a lot more "smart" left coast soyboys to design the thing, and more to maintain it and fix it and keep it working; and think of all the "critical updates"; than it would take to just hire a zit-face kid with pot in his system to flip the fucking burgers. And then the kid won't break into the burger joint and steal burgers, or at least just break the windows out of boredom.
In reply to What is the point of a 60k… by Gaius Frakkin'…
Once they get it to where it does its job better than a human, then it doesn't matter how much it costs to design and create what is essentially a prototype. They'll start mass producing them, and early adopters will pay close to the 60k, with later adopters paying probably half or less. Then all those people will have a slave purchased for the yearly salary of about 3-4 minimum wage scrubs, that takes no breaks, needs no days off, wants no benefits or raises, and is never otherwise delinquent or insubordinate. Including the cost of maintenance, the robot's value purely from a wage savings standpoint probably pays for itself within 2 years max. Meanwhile, the owner doesn't have to put up with humans anymore. No more interviews, arguments, meetings, etc. Maybe an hour each night to clean and lube the robots, and swim in your money bin like Scrooge McDuck.
Pretty much none of us will have jobs at that point, but that's ok. We'll all be getting $1000 a month, so we'll be able to run over to the burger joint from our nearby trailer park homes, and get those now $0.25 hamburgers thanks to the fact the owner doesn't have to pay anyone. Then we can all die of heart attacks by 45 due to our diet of purely fast food, and lack of motivation to ever get off our couch. Those few that do get off their couches will fuck like rabbits, offsetting our diminished sperm counts. It'll be just like Star Trek.
In reply to It probably took a lot more … by swmnguy
Sounds like the humans couldn't keep up, that means they will be replaced with bots that can. Don't eat fast food poison
In reply to Once they get it to where it… by jin187
Goodbye JOBS.
Hello CURSE.
In reply to Sounds like the humans… by JimmyJones
You mean?? Hello "CURB"!! Because that' where your tent will be parked, RIGHT next to the fanatic WHO preaches ALL day long, "THE END IS NEAR"!!
In reply to Goodbye JOBS. Hello CURSE. by lloll
^SPAM^ {lloll that is}
In reply to Goodbye JOBS. Hello CURSE. by lloll
^^^ lloll <<< CHRONIC years-long SPAMMER ^^^
His "disguised" links (Hello CURSE) will take you to his Trojan- and Spam-laden "Whacked Out Biblicism" webpage. He also posts as "stizazz" and has been banned countless times for more than five years with countless log-ons.
Copy and paste the following text and send to abuse@zerohedge.com
"BAN and REMOVE spam accounts "lloll" and "stizazz" who are more log-ons from Spammers ZH has been banning for years (that's you, too, dailywesterner)"
In reply to Goodbye JOBS. Hello CURSE. by lloll
Sounds like Flippy needs another arm with a whip
In reply to Sounds like the humans… by JimmyJones
The robots can buy & eat the burgers too.
& flagwank at military propaganda parades.
In reply to Once they get it to where it… by jin187
THANK YOU !
In reply to The robots can buy & eat the… by Mr Hankey
Dump a bag full of mice and roaches in a totally automated fast food place and watch the fun.
Flippy will be flipping roach and mouse dropping burgers.
In reply to THANK YOU ! by Katos
...Dump a bag full of mice and roaches...
Project Mayhem will outlive AI, (or more rightly, PI; "Projected" Intelligence.)
Even at 6X Sigma, the authenticity that dwells inherently within the Human Soul will be valued above mere existence and / or pseudo-replication.
jmo and JMF
In reply to Dump a bag full of mice and… by yogibear
You'l be able to tip toe through the feces, needles, and humans from your tent , next to the weirdo IN THE pink box, to the hamburger joint TO get free catsup and mustard packs TO use on the half a hot dog you found on the ground The say before? God please let that be a hot dog??
In reply to Once they get it to where it… by jin187
The peeps living in "The Stacks " are the upper-middle class.
In reply to You'l be able to tip toe… by Katos
can one of these replace a typical wife? no holdback clause when pissed.
or is one available to replace asswipes like me? oh, yea, a dildo with rechargeable batteries.
we are all obsolete. useless eaters. bring on the great purge, i'm in line...
(lol).
In reply to Once they get it to where it… by jin187
Well said.
In reply to Once they get it to where it… by jin187
I hope they do not program flippy to spit into the burgers like the milenials sometimes do when they are unhappy with life.
In reply to Once they get it to where it… by jin187
I don't think you understand... There probably isn't a kitchen in the United States without a Mexican in it. I don't go out to eat for that reason. They don't wash their hands and have poor hygiene. They smell bad, too.
In reply to It probably took a lot more … by swmnguy
Obviously you have limited contact with Mexicans, or your JUST a fucking RACIST assmonkey?? MEXICANS are some of the cleanest HARD working, diligent, intelligent workers out there. Why do you think people hire them! They're pleasant, loyal, always show up, on time, clean as a whistle and ready to work! Unlike a bunch of lazy ASS white boys who can' seem to drag THIER ASSES OUT of bed without THIER mommies GIVING them a belly rub FIRST! After writing ALL this, I realize your ANOTHER lazy ASSHOLE who's on welfare, who pays around ALL day complaining about how "dem fukin Mescikans, don stol my job! YOUR TO FAT and to lazy to actually compete, so you lay around and bitch! What's DOUCHEBAG!
In reply to I don't think you understand… by coaltar
Found the SJW.....
Keep reloading.......
In reply to Obviously you have limited… by Katos
it's always fun to watch a SJW go into full-on Hysterical Virtue-Signaling mode. one imagines her voice getting higher & screechier the more xhe rants. the caps are the giveaway
In reply to Found the SJW… by rz the other
You've obviously never seen what your beloved cleanest Mexicans do to the porta-johns at construction job sites. They get hired because they don't dare question the shit wage they are offered and can be replaced with another illegal slave who works for peanuts ignorant fuck just like him/her if they do act up.
In reply to Obviously you have limited… by Katos
I worked in a restaurant where the mexicans would throw their dirty toilet paper and bloody rags in the garbage instead of flushing it. Someone remind me again how the fuck we're the same species?
In reply to You've obviously never seen… by undertow1141
They hire them and pay them cash. Slave labor.
In reply to Obviously you have limited… by Katos
They are so great look at their country!
In reply to Obviously you have limited… by Katos
fucking circumcised boomer faggots
Enjoy the collapse with your feeble body and mind.
In reply to Obviously you have limited… by Katos
Fix that by restoring the value of two parent families.
Dumping Rockefeller Foundation Education. A working Father and a Mother that believes in the importance of Motherhood. Meritocracy.
Stop supporting and celebrating single women who spread their legs for transient sperm donors.
Value stable heterosexual relationships and being parents.
Devalue Celebrity and the Entertainment complex.
USA had a Holodomor and nobody noticed. As long as there was food at the corporate supermarket, consumers were fat and dull. In In the mid 20th century, Farming became Agribusiness, a joint project of Rockefeller Foundation (There they are again!) and Harvard Business School (Again, Harvard/Yale). Vertical Integration of the Food Supply. Structured like Rockefeller's Standard Oil, a vertical monopoly. Independent farmers were removed from the food supply chain. There were many small farmers, who knew farming as a way of life, working with the soil to grow food. Those many were replaced by fewer large farms run as impersonal business with automation and chemicals. The family farmer became an employee of a corporation that seeks to maximize profits for the few.
Devalue "Profits over People".
In reply to It probably took a lot more … by swmnguy
The point is, this is the bleeding edge. A place my ex-wife worked makes injection-molded plastics, and a decade ago they were investing in robots to take parts off of presses. They were expensive, fiddly to set up, and fucked up a lot. But it was a learning process. That place now has half the employees. The robots are short-term loss for long-term gain.
In reply to What is the point of a 60k… by Gaius Frakkin'…
Imagine if Flippy wasn't relying on Millennials to design, build and program it: it would be 100x faster, would cost 10% as much, and would run non-stop between carefully-documented planned maintenance actions (change oil every 5,000,000 burgers, or every 3 months, whichever comes first). The 5-yo units would likely be repurposed for drive-thru liposuction stations.
Millennials will save us all from the Robopocalypse via sheer incompetence. I knew they'd come in handy for something.
In reply to The point is, this is the… by crossroaddemon
On average there is less than 4 months from the low in unemployment and the start of the next recession:
http://thesoundingline.com/unemployment-how-does-a-lagging-indicator-be…
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
Come up to San Francisco and Oakland and tell the tens of thousands of homeless people LIVING IN SQUALOR under the bridges, that they have 4 months to MAKE it big?? These people have already been discarded by a system here in California where tech giants rule the economy and anyone earning less than 500,000 a year, is HOPELESSLY underfunded TO live here!
In reply to On average there is less… by Four Star
No...it's because Cali is warm....there are a lot less homeless in rich Toronto but they lie around on grates when it's -20 out....tough homeless mother fuckers, unlike the faggots in Cali.
In reply to Come up to San Francisco and… by Katos
it's always fun to watch a SJW go into full-on Hysterical Virtue-Signaling mode. one imagines her voice getting higher & screechier the more xhe rants. the caps are the giveaway
In reply to No...it's because Cali is… by DieSocialJusti…
The millenials? It's all Indians man. We got 8 million Indians here with fake degrees, and their wives too. Trump does nothing cause zukerfuk has all the dollars.
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
Whether it will sooth your rancor or not? I DON'T know? But most of these "Indians " ARE also living in their cars, or small motorhomes along the freeways, because though they got a job with "FACEBOOK" THEY still can make enough to afford a 2500 dollar 1 bedroom apartment in the ghetto of San Jose!
In reply to The millenials? It's all… by whoisjg
it's always fun to watch a SJW go into full-on Hysterical Virtue-Signaling mode. one imagines her voice getting higher & screechier the more xhe rants. the caps are the giveaway
In reply to Whether it will sooth your… by Katos
The millenials? It's all Indians man. We got 8 million Indians here with fake degrees, and their wives too. Trump does nothing cause zukerfuk has all the dollars.
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
The millenials? It's all Indians man. We got 8 million Indians here with fake degrees, and their wives too. Trump does nothing cause zukerfuk has all the dollars.
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
The millenials? It's all Indians man. We got 8 million Indians here with fake degrees, and their wives too. Trump does nothing cause zukerfuk has all the dollars.
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
The millenials? It's all Indians man. We got 8 million Indians here with fake degrees, and their wives too. Trump does nothing cause zukerfuk has all the dollars.
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
The millenials? It's all Indians man. We got 8 million Indians here with fake degrees, and their wives too. Trump does nothing cause zukerfuk has all the dollars.
In reply to Imagine if Flippy wasn't… by ThanksChump
Pagination