Supposedly much of US agriculture is capable of being automated completely. However, the economics of full automation mean that its cheaper to just hire laborers.
That is, assuming the laborers are both highly capable and willing to work for low wages. If this population is shrunk, perhaps due to more aggressive law enforcement, the economics start to tilt towards automation.
Or look at a country like Singapore where control over volunteer workers from other countries means labor is scarce, and the country is well off, automation is more frequent.
So the question of robot impact needs to be in a slightly larger context than "can it be done by a robot": is a human willing to do it for lower wages than the cost of automation? Is there capital to finance the automation?
snarky-comments•43m ago
Supposedly much of US agriculture is capable of being automated completely. However, the economics of full automation mean that its cheaper to just hire laborers.
That is, assuming the laborers are both highly capable and willing to work for low wages. If this population is shrunk, perhaps due to more aggressive law enforcement, the economics start to tilt towards automation.
Or look at a country like Singapore where control over volunteer workers from other countries means labor is scarce, and the country is well off, automation is more frequent.
So the question of robot impact needs to be in a slightly larger context than "can it be done by a robot": is a human willing to do it for lower wages than the cost of automation? Is there capital to finance the automation?