Robotic Nation Evidence

Edmonton Journal - canada.com network

From the article:

The image of loupe-eyed craftspeople cutting priceless diamonds with unerring hands may soon be a part of history. Robots are invading the industry so quickly that some companies are using them exclusively to put the sparkle in their gems.

Also:

HRA's 24 cutting-edge machines cost more than a million dollars, but each one can accomplish in two hours what takes a craftsperson a whole day. The machines work seven days a week, don't get sick and never take holidays, says Ariel, whose Belgian-owned family firm also has factories in Antwerp and Vietnam. One person can run 35 to 40 machines -- critical when you're trying to compete with low-paying countries such as India, Vietnam and Armenia.

This sentence is extremely important: "Robots are invading the industry so quickly that some companies are using them exclusively to put the sparkle in their gems." One year, people are doing all the work of diamond cutting. The next year, robots "invade the industry" and an entire industry is largely gone from the labor pool.

This is not the slow, century-long process we saw with the loss of jobs in agriculture or in manufacturing. It is a three-to-five year process instead. Once robots cross over the cost/benefit cusp, everyone in the industry must convert to robots rapidly or go out of business. Thousands of workers are quickly unemployed.

Imagine the economic effects when retail, construction, transportation, etc. all automate at approximately the same time, and you understand the power of the Robotic Nation.