Hyundai Claims Humanoid Robot Plan Is Not Part of Talks With Striking Workers (arstechnica.com) 14
Ars Technica reports:
Hyundai Motor Company's plan to put humanoid robots to work by 2028 is not part of current negotiations with striking South Korean autoworkers, according to the company.
The automaker is disputing news reports that partial labor strikes by the Hyundai Motor union at the world's largest automotive plant in South Korea were spurred by concerns about the company's planned deployment of humanoid robots in the United States starting in 2028. [The planned robots are built by Boston Dynamics, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai.] A Hyundai statement shared with Ars describes the union's demands as focusing on compensation-related issues such as wage increases, bonuses, and an extension of workers' retirement age. "Potential deployment of robots in Korean production facilities is not part of the current labor-management discussions," according to the Hyundai statement...
Hyundai emphasized that its current plan only covers the initial deployment of the Atlas humanoid robot at Metaplant America, an electric vehicle factory near Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028. "Decisions about future Atlas deployment at other facilities will be made thoughtfully, in accordance with local operational needs, and in dialogue with the employees and workforce representatives at those sites," the company stated. However, The Wall Street Journal described the Hyundai Motor union as making "unprecedented demands seeking to enshrine job protections in the era of robots and AI," and characterized certain compensation demands as hedging against potential reductions in work hours caused by AI adoption and robotic automation. "Remember that without labor-management agreement, not a single robot using new technology will be allowed to enter the workplace," the union told Hyundai in an internal letter reported by Reuters.
Hyundai management and the labor union are currently reviewing a proposed wage reform that would "provide factory workers with greater income stability even after the carmaker's planned deployment of humanoid robots," The Korea Times reported. But experts cautioned that the wage overhaul, which would convert hourly pay for overtime and night-shift allowances into fixed wages, could come at the expense of company productivity.
The automaker is disputing news reports that partial labor strikes by the Hyundai Motor union at the world's largest automotive plant in South Korea were spurred by concerns about the company's planned deployment of humanoid robots in the United States starting in 2028. [The planned robots are built by Boston Dynamics, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hyundai.] A Hyundai statement shared with Ars describes the union's demands as focusing on compensation-related issues such as wage increases, bonuses, and an extension of workers' retirement age. "Potential deployment of robots in Korean production facilities is not part of the current labor-management discussions," according to the Hyundai statement...
Hyundai emphasized that its current plan only covers the initial deployment of the Atlas humanoid robot at Metaplant America, an electric vehicle factory near Savannah, Georgia, starting in 2028. "Decisions about future Atlas deployment at other facilities will be made thoughtfully, in accordance with local operational needs, and in dialogue with the employees and workforce representatives at those sites," the company stated. However, The Wall Street Journal described the Hyundai Motor union as making "unprecedented demands seeking to enshrine job protections in the era of robots and AI," and characterized certain compensation demands as hedging against potential reductions in work hours caused by AI adoption and robotic automation. "Remember that without labor-management agreement, not a single robot using new technology will be allowed to enter the workplace," the union told Hyundai in an internal letter reported by Reuters.
Hyundai management and the labor union are currently reviewing a proposed wage reform that would "provide factory workers with greater income stability even after the carmaker's planned deployment of humanoid robots," The Korea Times reported. But experts cautioned that the wage overhaul, which would convert hourly pay for overtime and night-shift allowances into fixed wages, could come at the expense of company productivity.
So we've been automating Non-Stop (Score:2)
Because the people reading this are tech nerds and kind of old they got to avoid some of that. It's coming but there's a chance some of us will get to die before the shit hits the fan.
The thing is if you're someone planning on retiring in classic I got mine fuck you style your retirement is going to collapse unless you are extremely wealthy. Like if you have less than 10 or 15 million
Re: (Score:2)
It might actually be time to work on some skills of worth in a pre-industrial economy; the rich and their robots go one way, the poor get to survive if they can find enough productive land the rich don't claim and patrol with drones.
Once the rich have robot enforcement, there's no way they'll stop taking more and more and marginalizing anyone who tries to stop them.
The sad part is it's the poor who are enabling this - we build the robots, we design the AI. Right now, we are the servants to the ultra-wealth
We promise ... (Score:2)
Ours will have tentacles.
Re: (Score:1)
"Nah... we won't replace you with humanoid robot workers... it'll just be a boatload of robot arms, so you're not being replaced by humanoids :-)"
"Oh, well... that's fine then."
This kind of thing _will_ happen to all jobs; what prevents a robot arm controlled by AI from assembling burgers at McD's? They went from multiple people on the line to just one or two... one person doing 4-5 people's worth of work (to save money)... a robot can do all that and not cost anything beyond initial buy-in and occasional
Re: (Score:2)
and can't leave until you pay...
Do they even have gas stations where you don't have to swipe your card first anymore?
Re: (Score:1)
No, they don't (unless it's someplace out in the sticks), but that is just for getting gas.
And I've been working like a dog (Score:2)
As robots gradually take over blue collar work, and AI takes over white collar work, the idea that if you work hard you will do well, will begin to seem quaint. The word "work" will have to be replaced with "own". e.g. He sat down for a beer after a hard day's ownership.
Retirement (Score:2)
the union's demands as focusing on compensation-related issues such as wage increases, bonuses, and an extension of workers' retirement age
In other words, retirement is so bad that workers would prefer working to death?
Re: (Score:2)
But retirement, itself, isn't so bad. I find that my focus is less disciplined: stuff gets done, but not with the same sense of purpose, so three things that should take two days stretch out to a week. But it's not like I have quarterly targets to hit, so if I don't reach my goals, there are no immediate consequences.
Threaten to defect to North Korea (Score:1)
Safety (Score:2)
Forget losing jobs, these things will make workers lose limbs. Traditional robot arms are fixed in place and surrounded by a cage, and accidents still happen. Humanoid robots just move all around the floor carrying heavy parts, with seemingly no thought given to safety.