Interesting article from Thursday's Salon about automation. I have conflicting feelings about it myself. On the one hand, I love the convenience of the ATM (or as a friend of mine used to call it, "worshipping the Cash God"). On the other, I have family members who work in factories, and will probably end up losing their jobs to automation or foreign competition. (Not that my job is exactly free from that worry either.)
There was one weird little quirk I noted as I was reading. About halfway through page 2, there's talk about ASIMO, the Honda-made robot. Apparently, some Indian scientists think that it would make a great sex toy. No, really. One Dr. CRJP Naidu (of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Bangalore) is quoted as saying: "One of the reasons for marital breakups today is physical inadequacy. Couples are so stressed out that there's no time for foreplay, so essential to get the juices flowing. A smart machine can bridge that gap in no time."
I don't see this as much of a godsend as this scientist would have you think - it seems more to complicate things. I think a lot of the problem is that a lot of couples don't talk, and a robot would only come between them. It's an easy solution to avoid the bigger problem. (Like, say, why are people so tired all the time anyway?) Or what if a spouse prefers the robot to the other human? Is ASIMO equipped to deal with human jealousy?
6:14:43 PM 
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