Obama: ATM Machines Kill Jobs, Robots Create Them

[teacherone]

One Day:

"The other thing that happened though, this goes to the point you were just making, is there are some structural issues with our economy where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers," President Obama said about unemployment in an interview with NBC's Ann Curry.

Obama claims ATMs and kiosks at airports have eliminated some jobs.

"If you see it when you go to a bank you use the ATM, you don't go to a bank teller. Or you go to the airport and you use a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate," he said.

The Next:

Let's hope that stays true, as Obama also announced that the U.S. is launching brand-new $70 million initiative "to accelerate the development and use of robots in the United States that work beside, or cooperatively with, people." Dubbed the National Robotics Initiative, the plan is backed by a smattering of important governmental acronym-agencies, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In his radio and Internet address, the president promoted a plan he outlined Friday in which the government would join with universities and corporations to re-ignite the manufacturing sector with an emphasis on cutting-edge research and new technologies.

"Their mission is to come up with a way to get ideas from the drawing board to the manufacturing floor to the marketplace as swiftly as possible, which will help create quality jobs, and make our businesses more competitive," Obama said in the address aired Saturday.

[Travlyr]

How about legalizing industrial hemp, Master Obama, et. al., who rule over us? We know it competes with petroleum, cotton, wood, medicine, the beloved waste removal systems, and stuff, but ... but ... jobs... it'll create jobs... an entire industry of jobs ... green jobs. Can we please cultivate one of nature's plants without losing our freedom? Please, Master Tyrant?

Because I would much rather grow, cultivate, design, create, build, innovate, and trade quality products with fellow members of society than stand in the middle of one of your road building projects with a stop sign as per: America's Recovery and Reinvestment Act dumbass provisions. That job sucks and can be done with "stop & go lights."

Americans for Real Honest Opportunity.

[Dr.3D]

Doesn't contradict himself much does he? An ATM is a robot.

[roho76]

Well great, now the federal government is going stick their hands in my specific industry. My buddy who only programs robits for GM was just told the other day that he has to carry a $7 Million dollar liability policy to the tune of $2500.00 a month even though the contracting company he works through carries a policy that blankets him since they're the ones with the contract and this is all due to decisions from the Car Czar.

[VBRonPaulFan]

Doesn't contradict himself much does he? An ATM is a robot.

no. see, obviously you're just misinformed. an atm is a MACHINE, and a robot is.... not... a machine? yeah, a robot is a machine, no wait not a machine... a uh autonomous electronic unit, that does something specific... and uh, makes things easier for people to do something.




holy $#@!, obama is such a moron.

[PreDeadMan]

hm...

[Sentient Void]

ATMs 'kill jobs' the same way that the refrigerator 'killed jobs' and the car 'killed jobs' when they were invented.

Obama is a giant, $#@!ing moron.

[Koz]

Obama is an imbecile. The electorate is even more stupid for electing him.

[sunghoko]

I work for a company that makes / services kiosks, ATMs, and other self automation machines. The company created 400+ in Georgia to bring production back to the states after manufacturing them in india, canada and brazil

hospital check in kiosks can reduce wait times and frees up admin for other things. Same with airport kiosks, self checkouts etc. Burdening a company to hire employees they don't need is really short sighted. A company cannot achieve maximum growth without reaching its peak efficiency. If it were up to Obama, he'd ban red boxes and other dvd kiosks to have blockbuster stay open.

[A Son of Liberty]

[Wesker1982]

Economics in One Lesson: The Curse of Machinery

[reardenstone]

Economics in One Lesson: The Curse of Machinery

The manufacturing bawlers are modern day luddites. they keep crying about the rust belt and the loss of good paying union supported manufacturing plants. Our tax code is one part of the problem. the other part, as you point out, is another technological revolution.

The late stage industrial age is behind us. What we do now is smarter and takes less space and less "human" assemblers. Just-in-time production, robotics... all yesterdays future and today's present.

But all is not lost if we just simply adapt. Learn new skills. We still need humans to drive cargo ships, to do local slow food farming AND to PROGRAM THE MACHINES!
We have to be smarter now or die.

I'm optimistic about a future so technologically grand and small, thanks to nanotech, that we hardly notice it. Skyping will be like speaking into a Palantir at someone else across the world. The letters on our books will move and change into new words and stories for a new book all like magic.

[thehighwaymanq]

Economics in One Lesson: The Curse of Machinery

Haha exact same thing I was thinking of!

[cindy25]

what I don't understand is if ATM machines reduced costs for the banks why have bank fees and minimum balances risen by 10-15 times from the 70s; I remember having my first ATM card in 1975 or 1976.