Robotic Nation Evidence

Radical Warship Takes Shape

This article from the Washington Post describes the next generation of stealth destroyers that the U.S. Navy plans to build. The project is called DD(X). The ships will be 600 feet long (100 feet longer than current destroyers) and travel at 30 knots.



From the article:

Instead of the 350 officers and enlisted men and women aboard destroyers, the DD(X) will sail with a crew of 150, or fewer, because of automation. It also will have 80 missile launchers and two main deck guns whose 155mm ammunition will be loaded, moved, stored and fired without ever being touched by human hands.

In other words, the staffing needs of the new destroyer are reduced by more than half because of robots.

That same level of staff reduction will be happening simultaneously throughout the U.S. economy over the next 15 years. From the Robotic Freedom article:

Companies like Wal-mart, K-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Lowes, BJ's, Sam's Club, Toys R Us, Sears, J.C. Penny's, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Max, Staples, Office Depot, Kroger's, Winn-Dixie, Pet Depot, etc. will all switch to robots at approximately the same time. They will dump 10 million or so workers onto the unemployment rolls at approximately the same time. Other industries like fast food, construction, transportation, warehousing, etc. will be automating as well, dumping millions more.

We need to start thinking about the implications of this transformation now. See Robotic Nation for details.