Do you think it will be cheaper to hire cheap workers than using robots in the far future?

[froggyboy604]

There are some people who are willing to work for less money where they are making minimum wage, and sometimes are forced to work unpaid overtime, and doing free work at home where they are not getting paid.

Robots are still very expensive because of the software and hardware patents which buyers need to pay when buying robots, and the cost of parts like robotic arms, HD cameras, expensive fast mini computers which can fit into a small metal body.

Robots also require a lot of maintenance, insurance, extended warranties, and security guards and alarm systems to guard them from robbers.

There are some items like Fidget Spinners and Cubes which are fad items which are only popular for a few weeks, or months, so you may lose money if you use expensive robots to make only a few hundred items which you can sell because there are probably hundreds of companies that make and sell Fidget Spinners and Cubes right now, and a lot of their sales are not as high because the fad is less popular, there are fewer buyers, and too much competition who sells the same Fidget Spinners and Cubes.

 

[IntoxNitram]

In terms of manufacturing, I would say no - at least not in the more developed countries. Whatever higher cost of robots are likely heavily offset by the productivity robots provide in comparison to workers. Also, robots etc are usually leased or bought on credit and so the cost is spread over many years, making them not too expensive in comparison - it isn't one big cost at once.

 

[froggyboy604]

In terms of manufacturing, I would say no - at least not in the more developed countries. Whatever higher cost of robots are likely heavily offset by the productivity robots provide in comparison to workers. Also, robots etc are usually leased or bought on credit and so the cost is spread over many years, making them not too expensive in comparison - it isn't one big cost at once.

Leasing, and buying robots on credit can be cheaper in developed countries. But, you have to be careful when leasing, and using credit since the lease, credit, and loan company may rip you off where you end up paying a lot more than paying for something all at once.

I think it is sometimes easier to find worker who are willing to work for less money because they need more experience, so they can find a better job. Some workers may work for less money, work below minimum wage, volunteer for free, and unpaid internships, until they get more experience, and find a better paying job, and you promise to be their reference in their resume.

If you are not sure if there is a demand for your new product or a long term demand, using workers maybe less risky than using loans, credit, and leases where you need to pay money to the bank, or leasing company on a monthly basis. But, if the earnings are low because there is a low demand for your product, you can hire fewer workers, or build the product yourself if the sales are very low, and you know how to build a product like a gaming computer yourself.

I think most gaming computers are still built by worker because the demand is not very high like batteries which sells millions of batteries per year, and there is a lot of competition which sell a similar gaming computer. Sometimes, it maybe one guy which runs the company, buy the PC parts to build the computer, and send it to the post office to ship it to buyer's home.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

I know everyone is jumping on the robot ride right now, but I think in the long run they may regret it with all the needed maintenance.

 

[froggyboy604]

I know everyone is jumping on the robot ride right now, but I think in the long run they may regret it with all the needed maintenance.

I think custom robots with digital parts like RAM, CPU, and video cards would cost a lot in maintenance, and upgrades in the future if the electronic parts are very expensive. Robot owners may end up paying more for old robot computer and robot parts if the parts become rare or collectible antiques like some older electronics like rare computers and game consoles which is sold for many thousands of dollars in the future.

Some more advance robots' built-in CPU may use a lot of RAM like 128GB of RAM, a super fast CPU, and a $1000 video card which is used for the robot to see in 4K and higher resolution. Some computers like the Apple Mac Pro can cost a lot of money to repair when a part breaks.

There are custom computers like supercomputers, gaming computers, and servers which can cost a lot if you install the best, and fastest computer parts.

Software, and technical support like software updates can be very expensive. The computer programmer who made the software for the robot, and software company can hold the robot computer's software for ransom until you pay thousands of dollars for a software update or technical support to unlock or fix a feature in the software.

I read online that some companies who use robots and computer machinery are stuck using Windows XP and older Windows operating system because the robot's software company is no longer supporting the robot software in Windows 7 to 10, require the owner of the robot to pay thousands of dollars to remake the program to work in Windows 7 to 10, or buy a new machine which work in newer versions of Windows. Microsoft also requires you to pay a lot of money if you want to get security updates for Windows XP and Vista which is no longer supported by MS.

 

[VirusZero]

The cost for robots is decreasing as technology advances and improves. Especially not compared to human labour which has other issues involved. Humans require rest while robots do not. A robot can work 24 hours a day so long as it has power. Humans on the other hand get tired and need sleep. Sometimes they even take breaks during the work day. (Especially in countries where labour laws require a half hour break for every 5 hours work.) In other words, a company producing objects could work 24/7 with a robot but to pay humans to do it... might take 2-3 people to do that same job.

So say a robot costs 20,000 dollars to buy outright (including setup fees and whatnot) and another thousand to run for a month. Paying 3 workers (so they can work 24/7) at minimum wage (we'll say 8 an hour) for one month is $16128. But there's already a couple problems... it wouldn't be just 3 workers. You'd need likely a fourth and fifth to give others time off. (Still same number of hours worked though, just more people to balance it out.) And that's not counting any extra costs like shift premiums due to working night shifts. Plus if you throw overtime into the mix then things get pricey in a hurry.

Then of course there's the issue of what speed a robot can maintain vs what a human can do. Fact is robots are usually faster at repetitive tasks (like assembling things). Humans make mistakes due to tiredness or boredom so it takes them longer. Also the robot doesn't stop for rest so that means a human who is there for 8 hours only may work 7.5 hours. (Which means in this 3 worker situation 1.5 hours are being paid for but nothing produced.)

Now sure based on that humans are likely cheaper for one month... But enter into a second month and the robot, which is now paid off, is a much more viable option.

But in the far future robots may be even more advanced and cost less so it might mean that using humans to manufacture goods just isn't viable regardless. And to any company looking to maximize profits... robots will be a massive factor.

 

[froggyboy604]

The cost for robots is decreasing as technology advances and improves. Especially not compared to human labour which has other issues involved. Humans require rest while robots do not. A robot can work 24 hours a day so long as it has power. Humans on the other hand get tired and need sleep. Sometimes they even take breaks during the work day. (Especially in countries where labour laws require a half hour break for every 5 hours work.) In other words, a company producing objects could work 24/7 with a robot but to pay humans to do it... might take 2-3 people to do that same job.

So say a robot costs 20,000 dollars to buy outright (including setup fees and whatnot) and another thousand to run for a month. Paying 3 workers (so they can work 24/7) at minimum wage (we'll say 8 an hour) for one month is $16128. But there's already a couple problems... it wouldn't be just 3 workers. You'd need likely a fourth and fifth to give others time off. (Still same number of hours worked though, just more people to balance it out.) And that's not counting any extra costs like shift premiums due to working night shifts. Plus if you throw overtime into the mix then things get pricey in a hurry.

Then of course there's the issue of what speed a robot can maintain vs what a human can do. Fact is robots are usually faster at repetitive tasks (like assembling things). Humans make mistakes due to tiredness or boredom so it takes them longer. Also the robot doesn't stop for rest so that means a human who is there for 8 hours only may work 7.5 hours. (Which means in this 3 worker situation 1.5 hours are being paid for but nothing produced.)

Now sure based on that humans are likely cheaper for one month... But enter into a second month and the robot, which is now paid off, is a much more viable option.

But in the far future robots may be even more advanced and cost less so it might mean that using humans to manufacture goods just isn't viable regardless. And to any company looking to maximize profits... robots will be a massive factor.

If there is a high demand for robots in the future, the price of robots may go up like how game consoles cost more to buy at launch because there are a lot of eBay users buying them at retail prices, and selling them for many thousands of dollars depending on the highest bidder.

I think buying and installing replacement robot parts may cost a lot because hiring mechanical workers can be expensive like hiring car repair mechanics where it can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to repair more expensive parts like the Transmission, and Engine. There are also some mechanics who rip off their customers who over charge for simple work, and replacing non-broken parts to earn more money, so there is a chance that robot owners can get scammed by the mechanics, and software companies which maintain the software.

The cost of electricity to power the robot, and lubricant oil like motor oil to keep the gears, bearings and motors running smoothly can cost a lot of money over time.

In the future, there maybe more people who work at lower paying jobs than today's wages if the government doesn't care, and lowers or freezes the minimum wage to not keep up with inflation, or does not enforce anti-slavery laws, and allow near slavery wages like how people in 3rd-world countries are paid nothing, or very poorly where they make almost no money, and may end up giving back all their earnings back to their boss if they rent a room, and eat food which is provided by their boss.

 

[Demon_Skeith]

Yeah, talked to someone the other day who still used XP saying they had to due to their software being too high in cost to rebuy since it doesn't transfer machines in any way.

 

[froggyboy604]

Yeah, talked to someone the other day who still used XP saying they had to due to their software being too high in cost to rebuy since it doesn't transfer machines in any way.

I think a lot of people with very old copies of Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Premier video editing, and older versions of Microsoft Visual Studios, Office, and work software are very expensive where it may cost many thousands of dollars to re-buy all the software, and many thousands of dollars more to hire a computer tech support worker to install, and customize software settings.

Workplaces with thousands to millions of computers like colleges, video game companies like SquareEnix, and the army may spend millions of dollars on software licenses, computers, and workers to install, test, troubleshoot, and repair software and hardware problems which can be very difficult and expensive to quickly fix.

If a company use custom plug-ins, macros, and add-ons, and code made for a software like MS Office, it may cost many thousand of dollars or millions of dollars if they need many computer programmers to make many thousands of plug-ins, add-ons, and customization for their many different software they use on their work PC.