This has changed factory work in the U.S. and has made the U.S. competitive worldwide once again regarding many of their products. By doing this their costs actually become less in many ways than hiring a factory worker in China or most other places. Also, there is the advantage of the "Made in the U.S.A." sticker or embossing of something made and sold in the U.S. compared to most other places in the world.
But, what does this do not only to the worker of the world but more specifically to the mostly untrained worker without a college degree in the U.S.? This is a question the world hasn't dealt with let alone the U.S.
I think the best way to look at this might be to see it as "The Drone Revolution" because in some ways it is all a part of the same thing with semi-intelligent machines now able to do much of the menial repetitive work in factories. More complex actions likely will soon be done by robots too.
For example, if you have noticed driverless cars especially by Google and now other companies around the world and then you look at this article of them selling driverless cars by 2020:
Nissan Announces Plans to Release Driverless Cars by 2020
By PAUL STENQUIST
Nissan North America Nissan announced plans this week to roll out market-ready autonomous-drive vehicles by 2020.A host of advanced equipment is needed for autonomous operation, including cameras that can see the area surrounding the vehicle; radar sensors that measure distance; laser scanners that detect the shape of objects; a global-positioning sensor that locates the vehicle; advanced computer systems that apply artificial intelligence to that data and make driving decisions; and a variety of actuators that can execute driving maneuvers while compensating for less than ideal conditions.
In a speech at a media event in California, Andy Palmer, a Nissan executive vice president, said, “Our autonomous-driving vehicles utilize cameras, sensors, global positioning sensors and machine technologies – including the Safety Shield features already offered in many of our models – to maneuver with reduced human intervention, or without any human intervention.”
Nissan North America Mitsuhiko
Yamashita, Nissan’s executive vice president for research and
development, stands with a test vehicle in Irvine, Calif.Some of today’s vehicles, including some made by Nissan, qualify as semiautonomous. Intelligent cruise control can keep track of a vehicle’s place in traffic and adjust speed accordingly. Lane-departure warning systems can alert the driver if the vehicle crosses over lane markings. Lane-departure prevention systems go a step further and apply corrective measures. Intelligent braking systems can bring a vehicle to a halt if the driver fails to brake in time. But it’s a giant step from these aids to fully autonomous operation. Providing assistance when a driver fails to react is a technical challenge, but developing a foolproof artificial intelligence system that can make all driving decisions is far more complex.
Technical hurdles are just one of the problems that an autonomous vehicle pioneer faces. Bryan Reimer, a research scientist engaged in driver workload studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, isn’t sure that humans can cope with these technologies. His research, and the work of others in the field, has determined that the sweet spot for driver awareness is somewhere between understimulated and overstimulated.
“We are capable of developing the sensors and systems for an autonomous vehicle, but do we know how people will interact?” he said in a telephone interview. “What happens when people start driving them? Autonomy complacency among pilots has become a problem in aviation. The broad issue is not whether we can develop the technologies, but whether we can develop cohesive interfaces that drivers can operate successfully without losing their skills.”
In May, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced plans for research on safety issues related to autonomous vehicles. A policy statement expressed support for technologies that “have the potential to reduce significantly the many thousands of fatalities and injuries that occur each year as a result of motor vehicle crashes.” The agency has not published standards but has said, “Research will be performed to support the development of any potential technical requirements for automated vehicle systems.”
There is also the question of liability. Will the vehicle occupant who is not actually at the controls of an autonomous vehicle be liable if that vehicle is involved in an accident, or will the manufacturer that engineered the driving system have to accept responsibility?
Nissan’s introduction of the fully electric Leaf before the development of the infrastructure necessary to support E.V.’s was a bold move. An autonomous-drive vehicle takes the company’s boldness to a new level. But Nissan is making the leap and has begun development of a proving ground in Japan that would enable testing of autonomous vehicles in real-world conditions.
“Nissan Motor Company is ready,” Mr. Palmer said. “We are on a mission to be the most progressive car company in the world, and to redefine how motorists interact with their vehicles.”
With the driverless Nissan scheduled to appear in seven years, the world may be ready when it arrives. But the technology is not ready yet. In its Preliminary Statement of Policy Concerning Automated Vehicles, N.H.T.S.A., which will have the final word on autonomous vehicles in the United States, wrote that it “does not recommend that states authorize the operation of self-driving vehicles for purposes other than testing at this time,” adding, “We believe there are a number of technological issues as well as human performance issues that must be addressed before self-driving vehicles can be made widely available.”
end quote from:
Nissan Announces Plans to Release Driverless Cars by 2020 ...
wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/.../nissan-announces-plans-to-release-driverles...
Aug 29, 2013 - Already engaged in testing, Nissan said this week that it planned to introduce a market-ready autonomous vehicle by the end of the decade.
After reading this article one can then see that there might not be taxi drivers at all in more developed countries by 2025 or 2030 and likely by 2035 or 2040 there likely won't be any truck drivers either in the U.S.
However, as an ex- computer programmer I must say that the kinds of mistakes possible by software and hardware in relation to the real world will likely be pretty mind boggling and makes me wonder how the U.S. legal system and world legal systems are going to deal with this problem.
In a factory setting this can be managed more effectively but out and about this becomes more and more of a problem as the many variables of real life collide with the general complete lack of common sense that computer programs function in generally.
It might be difficult for someone who hasn't programmed before to appreciate just how many variables there are even in standing up, walking across the room, opening the front door and walking down stairs to your car, but any programmer trying to make a robotic device do that would understand the basic problems. Now, if someone walked out the door of the next house or apartment and said "Hello" the robot couldn't deal with that either and might just bump into them or drive over them and knock them down. Even if a program had been working in 80% to 95% of all potential variables effectively, it still might run over people or animals or all sorts of other things it wasn't programmed to deal with which is what life is really like on a daily basis.
I have heard that Nevada is the first state where a vehicle that is self driven(without a human) can operate legally without a human driver at least sitting at the wheel in case of emergencies. So, I believe it is now legal in Nevada for a car to drive down the road with no one in the car at all.
I looked it up on and what I found was this 2011 article on the subject:
The State of Nevada just passed
Assembly Bill No. 511 which, among other things, authorizes the
Department of Transportation to develop rules and regulations governing
the use of driverless cars, such as Google’s concept car, on its roads.
As Stanford Professor Ryan Calo notes, this is a big step forward in ensuring that safe, driverless cars become a reality.
See Also: The VW That Goes 80 MPH Without A Driver
end quote from:
I looked it up on and what I found was this 2011 article on the subject:
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Nevada Passes Law Authorizing Driverless Cars
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As Stanford Professor Ryan Calo notes, this is a big step forward in ensuring that safe, driverless cars become a reality.
Specifically, the law provides that the Nevada Department of Transportation “shall adopt regulations authorizing the operation of autonomous vehicles on highways within the State of Nevada.” The law charges the Nevada DOT with setting safety and performance standards and requires it to designate areas where driverless cars may be tested. (Note that this could take some serious time: Japan, for instance, has been promising standards for personal robots for years and has yet to release them.)You can read the full text of the law here.
See Also: The VW That Goes 80 MPH Without A Driver
end quote from:
Nissan Announces Plans to Release Driverless Cars by 2020 ...
wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/.../nissan-announces-plans-to-release-driverles...
Aug 29, 2013 - Already engaged in testing, Nissan said this week that it planned to introduce a market-ready autonomous vehicle by the end of the decade.
