Well, here we are again. Goodbye to another year gone. What a year it has been too. Something is different thou. Oh there have been rollercoaster years before, but this one is the end of an era. The end is in sight for the American middle class, the American dream, and life as most of us have known it to be. Some blame a Republican Party that has become extremist, some blame a Democratic Party that failed to bring about change that was promised, still others blame foreign forces or greed and sins by the population as a whole. Whatever you believe the reason to be, the fact is that an era of technology is dawning that the world has never seen before. From military drones used in tactical assaults and conflicts, to an acceptance of the electric car, but there has been one event that went largely un-noticed. This year Honda has introduced a new stage of development in its’ personal service robot. Toyota introduced a personal service robot 4 or 5 years ago, and claimed they would have personal service robots in mass production by 2030. This is different, this changes everything. ASIMO, the worlds’ most advanced humanoid robot, from Honda, with artificial intelligence. ASIMO has the ability to navigate independently and make decisions with no remote assistance. The era of being compensated for manual labor is coming to a close, and that is sealed in stone, as of this year. People in high places have been implementing robotics and automation for years now, but “lights out operation” has been only a futuristic dream. Now the ability for an entire factory or warehouse to be functional with as few as a half dozen people is within reach. A couple programmers, a couple maintenance personnel, and that’s all, really. 24/7 operation, with no breaks, heat, sick days, paid holidays, paid ins., or retirement plans to cut into profits. There is no reason it should end at factories and warehouses either, bye bye Miss American pie. The new middle class is basically the lower levels of wealthy. The real separation is going to be in education, the “haves” and the “have not’s” will be separated by the level of higher education in which they have received. ASIMO has its’ own website if you are interested in where the future lies. Also this year, I watched a talk show in which the discussion revolved around the issue of humans being inferior. There are “think tanks” already discussing how to shut this down when the “emergency” happens. When robots can “reason”, they will “reason” that we are flawed. For what it’s worth…………..HAPPY NEW YEAR…………………..PEACE (*_^)
(link to "NEW IMPROVED ASIMO" below)
http://asimo.honda.com/news/honda-unveils-all-new-asimo-with-significant-advancements/newsarticle_0125/
