Japan may pick robots over immigrants

Japan may pick robots over immigrants

news.bbc.co.uk

Japan, like many countries across the globe, is facing huge challenges in caring for its aging population.

Its hospitals are stretched because there are not enough nurses to cope.

The low birth rate there means foreign workers need to be recruited but there is a widespread opposition to immigration in the country as many Japanese value an ethnically homogenous society.

For some, robots may be preferable to allowing foreigners to work there.

(visit the link for the full news article)


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The source quoted above also has a video of a robot clone of a lady. The idea is robots like the one shown may replace workers in a variety of industry in Japan because there are strict barriers to immigration. It is also reported that the work force has been shrinking and is suppose to continue to do so. So if the workers needed can not be imported going to robots may be the solution.

news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by RedGolem


So, japan's going to build cylons? great.

reply to post by Gorman91


Gorman
thanks for posting.
Yes Japan is building cylons, or a better term I think would be androids.
If you watched the video at first glance she does look very human. It is the body language that gives her away for being artificial in my opinion.

reply to post by RedGolem


That's called the uncanny valley.

en.wikipedia.org...

I'm pretty sure you just inspired me for a future writing where all the world's a ruined wreck a la children of men, but Japan lives on via robots.

reply to post by RedGolem


Interesting idea, and that robot was so very real looking. I wonder how long it will take for one of those to be able to function on the level of a human nurse.

Do you really think that will be cost effective, though? I wonder what the price tag would be on something like that, versus paying wages to a human over so many years.

Also, no matter how well they can get one of these to function, I can't see how it would ever be able to have a good, "bedside manner."

reply to post by Gorman91


Gorman
glad I could help with your insperation
Thanks for the link also. Not to sure what I think about the uncanny valley though.

reply to post by Blanca Rose


I don't really see them functioning as a nurse does now, but I do think they can turn to machines to make up for fewer people. Not just the bed side manor, but the mannerisms in general is what I think will be the tell tail way to recognize a robot.

this movie i thought showed many of these ideas very well.
bicentenial man

Good for Japan! I love humanoid robots. Everybody should have at least one robot servant.

There was movement in California to automate most of the jobs on the docks in the likes how they have advanced robots in car-manufacturers.

Union workers got upset over potential loss of jobs and somehow got a stupid rule passed that they can't automate dock workers.

Stupidity at its finest. Guess people want to be enslaved and be the reason for the bottleneck that doesn't evolve our civilization.

[edit on 17-5-2010 by dzonatas]

For some, robots may be preferable to allowing foreigners to work there.

I kept waiting to hear the context and justification for this line in the video, but it never came.

I used to expect better from the BBC.

Originally posted by vox2442

For some, robots may be preferable to allowing foreigners to work there.

I kept waiting to hear the context and justification for this line in the video, but it never came.

I used to expect better from the BBC.

It's in the OP. "many Japanese value an ethnically homogeneous society." Foreigners pollute the ethnic homogeneity that the Japanese value.

That's in stark contrast to other countries that value diversity instead of homogeneity.

Originally posted by dzonatas
Union workers got upset over potential loss of jobs and somehow got a stupid rule passed that they can't automate dock workers.

Stupidity at its finest. Guess people want to be enslaved and be the reason for the bottleneck that doesn't evolve our civilization.

Yes it's stupid for society, not so stupid for the dock workers. Where else can they get paid 80k a year to do what a robot can do? Nowhere.

Those jobs pay way to much for what they do, that's why they get 10 applicants for every job opening, at least.

I would only suggest waiting until the economic crisis is over before eliminating jobs like that, but eventually, it makes sense once the job market is more robust so they can get work elsewhere.

And robots can do a pretty good job in repetitive work like that.

I'm not sure how well suited robots are for hospital work.

This Japanese robot can do presentations at trade shows, etc:



She doesn't get tired and doesn't need to take bathroom or coffee breaks. But she can't answer questions. Not yet anyway.

[edit on 27-5-2010 by Arbitrageur]

Originally posted by Arbitrageur It's in the OP. "many Japanese value an ethnically homogeneous society." Foreigners pollute the ethnic homogeneity that the Japanese value.

Sorry, but that's still a hell of a leap in logic. Especially when there's no evidence to show what is effectively an accusation of rampant xenophobia, and when there's no evidence to show that robots being designed are a reaction to such alleged feelings.

Creating a robot that can potentially, someday, replace a restaurant greeter or hospital receptionist does not equal creating robots to prevent foreigners from working in Japan.

Originally posted by vox2442
Creating a robot that can potentially, someday, replace a restaurant greeter or hospital receptionist does not equal creating robots to prevent foreigners from working in Japan.

Maybe that depends on ones freedoms. If one doesn't like a hotel that has robotic workers, then one doesn't need to go there for a room. They can choose another hotel that has the traditional human element.

No matter, it is hard to argue that robots will add to provide social welfare. If people argue a sense of loss of jobs then they do not understand automated social welfare. Being able to reduce the cost, economically and environmentally, of basic necessities seems like a win/win. A fleet of robotic worker may mean a family can stay home and spend more valuable time together.

Meatbots are more advanced and capable than silico-metalloid bots. They are self-replicating, capable of abstraction and creativity.

They can be designed in a range of scales, from single-cell microbots to macromeatbots.

Using nanoscale processors and bioactuators, they are many orders of magnitude more advanced than metallocyborgs.

You do realize WE are meatbots, right?

When you look into the future to see the most advanced cyborg possible-

You see Man.

Addendum: metaloidbots are cool for hazardous, repetitive, simplistic duty suited to their limited processing power, like assembly line, coating, and mass machining...

[edit on 27-5-2010 by Chakotay]

If there's a future for this planet --- Robots are It

And humans (just a few) will be kept in cages at zoos

Ah .... hear the peace (and the sound of the planet regenerating)

vox2442, I'm going to assume you know how a lot, if not most, conservative & older Japanese prefer to keep their society as pure Japanese as it can get. That means as little foreigners as possible, especially other races classified as 'Asian'.

While on the other hand, a lot of the younger generation could care less, and actually try to imitate other cultures of the world. They may be one of the most advanced when it comes to technology, but their hospitality to other cultures is a little behind.

As you might know, it's hell for say a Korean to live in Japan, especially if they're of mixed blood.

Though I doubt the robots are meant to be used in place of foreign workers, more like Japan is obsessed with robotics already, with this just being another step in the same direction.

Originally posted by Destiny Of Souls
vox2442, I'm going to assume you know how a lot, if not most, conservative & older Japanese prefer to keep their society as pure Japanese as it can get. That means as little foreigners as possible, especially other races classified as 'Asian'.

While on the other hand, a lot of the younger generation could care less, and actually try to imitate other cultures of the world. They may be one of the most advanced when it comes to technology, but their hospitality to other cultures is a little behind.

As you might know, it's hell for say a Korean to live in Japan, especially if they're of mixed blood.

Though I doubt the robots are meant to be used in place of foreign workers, more like Japan is obsessed with robotics already, with this just being another step in the same direction.

You assume wrong. In fact, a lot - if not most - of the older, conservative Japanese I meet and interact with on a daily basis in rural Japan keep asking me when I'm going to naturalize and settle down here.

As far as it being "hell" for Koreans to live here, that goes against the experience of the Koreans I know, including the "mixed blood" Korean that makes my breakfast most mornings. Hell, even the Emperor has Korean blood. Speaking as an obvious, blond haired blue eyed foreigner, I can say I'm treated far better as an immigrant than I would be as an immigrant in most Western countries, including my own.

The western media really likes these stereotypes, though - and I guess that's what bothers me about this story. Japan, to the average westerner, is a land of xenophobes with strange pornography, anime, and a robot fixation. Everything is extremely expensive, and people kill themselves like Klingons if they bring dishonour on their families.

I guess it's what people want to believe, though.

Originally posted by vox2442
While on the other hand, a lot of the younger generation could care less, and actually try to imitate other cultures of the world. They may be one of the most advanced when it comes to technology, but their hospitality to other cultures is a little behind.

I'll be the first person to admit I don't know what's really going on in the minds of conservative older Japanese people.

But what did you expect them to ask you? "When the hell are you going to get out of our country so you don't pollute our bloodline with your foreign genes?" Even if that's what they were thinking (and I'm not saying they are) they wouldn't say that to your face, would they?

I do have a personal friend that's 50% Japanese and she was being berated by some pure Japanese for being a "half-breed". I know, it's just an anecdotal story and not intended to convey what the Japanese in general feel, but it had an effect on my perceptions more than the Western media.

And actually I'm a big fan of anime. I like the Japanese and what I know of Japanese culture, so I hope what you say is true. But from my friend's experience at least, it not always true.

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

I'll be the first person to admit I don't know what's really going on in the minds of conservative older Japanese people.

But what did you expect them to ask you? "When the hell are you going to get out of our country so you don't pollute our bloodline with your foreign genes?" Even if that's what they were thinking (and I'm not saying they are) they wouldn't say that to your face, would they?

From what you suggest in your previous post, yes, that's exactly what I should expect them to say. But in the decade or so I've been here, I can count on one hand the number of times I've even had that kind of attitude from a drunk.

I do have a personal friend that's 50% Japanese and she was being berated by some pure Japanese for being a "half-breed". I know, it's just an anecdotal story and not intended to convey what the Japanese in general feel, but it had an effect on my perceptions more than the Western media.

And how old was she at the time? Was she, by any chance, at the age where people taunt each other for any damned thing, from being over/under weight, to listening to / not listening to X, for having brand X of shoes vs. brand Y, or having hair too short or too long?

A teenager getting the gears from her peers does not make a nation of xenophobes.