Machines won’t bring about the economic robot apocalypse ¯ but greedy humans will, according to physicist Stephen Hawking.
In a Reddit Ask Me Anything (https://www.reddit.com/r/ science/ comments/ 3nyn5i/ science_ama_series_stephen_hawking_ama_answers/cvsdmkv/) session on Thursday, the scientist predicted that economic inequality will skyrocket as more jobs become automated and the rich owners of machines refuse to share their fast-proliferating wealth.
“If machines produce everything we need, the outcome will depend on how things are distributed. Everyone can enjoy a life of luxurious leisure if the machine-produced wealth is shared, or most people can end up miserably poor if the machine-owners successfully lobby against wealth redistribution. So far, the trend seems to be toward the second option, with technology driving ever-increasing inequality.” — Reuters
link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/stephen-hawking-capitalism-robots_us_5616c20ce4b0dbb8000d9f15
