from the limited-vision dept.
An interesting report on the impact of robotics and advanced automation (read: semi-autonomous AI) appears in the October 2000 issue of the IPTS Report, published by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, which is part of the Joint Research Center of the Eurpean Commission (think of it as the EC equivalent of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy).
While it doesnít anticipate nanotechnology or strong AI, the article presents some interesting scenarios on how governments and societies might respond to the displacement of workers from industrial and service sector jobs by intelligent robotic systems, and discusses socio-economic tensions that might arise as we move toward a knowledge-based economy.
