Kiwi bots aren't (weren't?) actually AI controlled. They had human drivers in South America that controlled them remotely. If one attacked you, it was either the human driver going agro, or just a problem with the latency of the camera -> cell network -> streamed to South America -> driver inputs command -> sent back to the US -> over the cell network -> back to the bot. And the cameras they have were pretty bad (the ordering app would show you the camera view when the bot was nearing its destination.)
Those "exploited workers" probably made decent money relative to the cost of living in their location, and they got to do it from the comfort of a computer instead of hard labor in the sun, which is what someone in their same socioeconomic bracket would more likely be doing.
If it was "our" citizens getting paid near (US) minimum wage to sit at home and monitor a robot all day then yes, I'd still be all for it. Teenage me would have much preferred that to fast food, and even adult me would happily take it as a second or interim job if needed and unable to find better paying work for some reason. And I'm sure it'd be a great opportunity for the physically disabled or other people unable to leave home.
This is a win for everyone involved. A US company gets to outsource easy work at a price below our minimum wage that they can afford to a population which can live happily with those lower wages due to their nations cost of living.
Cost of living is irrelevant when the cost of certain goods like iPhones, computers, Internet subscriptions and other things is fundamentally determined by strong markets like USA or EU.
Or are you going to tell me that Indians don't deserve to use iPhones, watch Netflix, or learn new skills through online programmes? Because that would be pretty racist, and I don't suppose you consider yourself racist, do you?
Further, the fact some countries earn astronomically high wages means they can, when they retire, take everything with them, into a cheap country like Egypt, India, or Greece, and live like emperors. Is that fair? Especially when hard-working people in India can barely afford vacation in their own country.
Ah, the old "If you disagree with me then you're a racist". Please don't engage if you aren't going to engage in good faith, we're not on Reddit. I'm happy to be called wrong, but not if you're going to do so like that.
People deserve what they can afford. Are you suggesting we subsidize the cost of every luxury good so that everyone in the world regardless of income has access to said luxury good? It's a great notion, but the logistics are fundamentally impossible.
I can't afford a Ferrari. Do I not deserve a Ferrari? I can't afford a Rolex. Do I not deserve a Rolex? The answer is no, I don't deserve either of those things. I don't fundamentally deserve anything except for my own life. If I want anything else it's up to me to find a way to obtain it.
> Cost of living is irrelevant when the cost of certain goods like iPhones, computers, Internet subscriptions and other things is fundamentally determined by strong markets like USA or EU.
I will, I liked nickel and dimed so I'll give this a read. One side note, in looking up this book to purchase on Amazon, the hardcover is 2 bucks cheaper than the soft cover. I've seen this kind of thing quite a bit lately. What gives?
If you liked Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed,"[0] you might like a few of her unrelated books as well. I highly recommend her "Dancing in the Streets,"[1] a 5,000 year history of the deadening of European culture (at Europeans' own hands, no less) that pairs nicely with Graeber's "Debt: The First 5,000"[2], a book of similar pacing, as well as a much shorter book on the gendered professionalization/demolition of the medical practice in the medieval era titled "Witches, Midwives, and Nurses" or "W.M.N."[3]
Her "Bait and Switch,"[4] however, about the white-collar unemployment industry I found dull and unenlightening.
I've noticed this too. Hypothesis: Nobody wants books made of atoms any more, and the few that are selling are paperbacks. Therefore hardbacks are cheaper even though they're rarer and more expensive to produce.
I believe (as of a few years ago) that Kiwi bots are semi-autonomous, meaning they do have someone watching the camera feed but the bots themselves can move in a given direction and will stop if an object is detected.
