China Deploys Trash-Collecting Robots Amid Automation Wave 

A “smart garbage sorting robot” was recently launched on the streets in eastern China, able to pick up and sort trash for an entire workday. 

China’s national newspaper, the People’s Daily, published a video this week showing the robot cruising down the sidewalk in the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province on Oct. 28, identifying trash, then using its robotic arm to pick up the debris. It was reported the robot could operate for eight hours before the next charge, with the ability to pick up a total of 38.5 pounds of trash. 

A smart garbage sorting robot was launched in Hangzhou, E China’s Zhejiang. Supported by visual learning and navigational positioning techs, the robot can work for 8hrs straight, pick up and sort 17.5kg of garbage with an identification accuracy rate of 98% on recyclable trash. pic.twitter.com/SwGiI4Imnb

— People’s Daily, China (@PDChina) November 3, 2020

Trash picking robots in China is just more evidence of how automation and artificial intelligence will displace millions of jobs, not only in China but worldwide by the end of the decade. 

The World Economic Forum (WEF) released a report in October warning that robots could displace an estimated 85 million jobs by 2025. 

“Automation, in tandem with the COVID-19 recession, is creating a ‘double disruption’ scenario for workers,” WEF wrote.

“In addition to the current disruption from the pandemic-induced lockdowns and economic contraction, technological adoption by companies will transform tasks, jobs, and skills by 2025.”

A future ruled by robots would likely result in policymakers worldwide enacting some form of People’s QE.