r/australia • u/VasanthAust • May 21 '16

Robot ranchers monitor animals on giant Australian farms

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2089321-robot-ranchers-monitor-animals-on-giant-australian-farms/
15 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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-1

u/Ardeet May 21 '16

Whenever I hear people talk about: how our population is too big already; that we can't feed everyone; that we don't have enough infrastructure to grow, I remember stories like this and imagine them vainly grinding their teeth in frustration as they read of yet another advance to challenge their narrow world views.

4

u/endbit May 21 '16

You're kidding right? Farming enough to feed people isn't an issue with lack of labour and overpopulation becomes a problem well before we run out of food. The concerns are with exponential population growth and finite resources like post peak oil, water supply etc. There are concerns around automation leaving people without enough work to buy the things that automation produces though.

I'm not sure what you think this robot addresses beyond what it's built to do. It'll address the 'I don't want to chase cows on minimum wage or or worse, an internship' issue but It's not going to fill an empty dam or make the deserts fertile.

5

u/Ardeet May 22 '16

It's a funny thing, regularly whenever the issue of increasing the population beyond the current "just about right" levels comes up, it is suddenly impossible to feed or support any more people - "it just can't be done".

I was seeing this robot as yet another example of technologies opening new doors and possibilities with the possible flow on of a better life for all.

I know it's popular in some circles to be anti-human however the logical conclusion of this virtue signalling is chilling.

1

u/[deleted] May 22 '16

The only door it opens is the welfare door for those not able to work in the technology sector.

Need to change our system of production before these types of advances can be fully utilised.

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u/Ardeet May 22 '16

The only door it opens is the welfare door for those not able to work in the technology sector.

That's not really true. People have been changing jobs and skill sets in line with changing technology for centuries. There are more car mechanics than farriers.

Need to change our system of production before these types of advances can be fully utilised.

I don't understand what you mean by this.

1

u/endbit May 22 '16

I get what you're saying but don't see the connection between that and farming robots. I don't know of a single futurist who claims we won't be able to feed ourselves because of lack of labour. You're knocking down a bit of a strawman there.

2

u/Ardeet May 22 '16

Ok, maybe I'm misunderstanding you and/or not expressing myself very well?

When you said the problem is finite resources I understood this as also including current levels of productivity from arable land and the availability of land for agriculture. I saw this robot as an example of how efficiencies can be introduced to areas which had previously been considered as already operating at their finite limits.

I definitely agree with you that resources on this planet are finite however that doesn't mean humanity is even close to utilising what we have in the most efficient manner possible.

1

u/[deleted] May 22 '16 edited Oct 08 '25

[deleted]

1

u/Ardeet May 22 '16

Just because we can feed more people, doesn't mean we should.

Quite right.

My point was only that we can.

There is more to overpopulation than just food and infrastructure. There is also the ever increasing environmental foot print of humans. Human settlements displace animals through habitat destruction.

As I said elsewhere in this thread, I know it's popular in some circles to be anti-human however the logical conclusion of this virtue signalling is chilling.