Because supposedly they would repair themselves or be repaired by other robots, and energy would cost less and less, anything would cost less and less if work is increasingly done by robots than can be improved year after year.
It reminds me of predictions for the cloud, that someone would just write a perfect cloud formation script and then be able to sack all of their employees. But instead it just updated a lot of System Engineers to Cloud Engineers and Devops positions.
The direct implication is that not only will robots definitely be allowed into human spaces, and definitely be able to use generalised hardware to perform fine detail technical work but also contain only servicable/replacable parts.
I dont see any of that as proven. I think its far more likely that a very limited subset of robots will be allowed to be near humans at all, and insurance for them is going to be extremely expensive. I think if I had a look at Australian law they would be considered Plant, guaranteed if they have any pressurized components or strong lift capability. Maintenance, is going to cost an arm and a leg, and the units themselves will be largely proprietary, so you are looking at ongoing maintenance via the vendor, much like what the tractor industry is working on.
But this logic applies to all machinery and technological progress. In the end it boils down to cheap energy and materials. The shape of the machine is actually irrelevant here.
It reminds me of predictions for the cloud, that someone would just write a perfect cloud formation script and then be able to sack all of their employees. But instead it just updated a lot of System Engineers to Cloud Engineers and Devops positions.
The direct implication is that not only will robots definitely be allowed into human spaces, and definitely be able to use generalised hardware to perform fine detail technical work but also contain only servicable/replacable parts.
I dont see any of that as proven. I think its far more likely that a very limited subset of robots will be allowed to be near humans at all, and insurance for them is going to be extremely expensive. I think if I had a look at Australian law they would be considered Plant, guaranteed if they have any pressurized components or strong lift capability. Maintenance, is going to cost an arm and a leg, and the units themselves will be largely proprietary, so you are looking at ongoing maintenance via the vendor, much like what the tractor industry is working on.