Action and Reaction

A robot, a billionaire, and a billionaire-robot
hybrid (Euronews image)

CNN, September: New California law could raise fast-food minimum wage to $22 an hour [bold added]

Under the legislation, the council could raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to up to $22 an hour — well above the $15 an hour in the state for employers with more than 26 workers.

The new standards apply to chains with at least 100 locations nationally.

WSJ, October: Robots are spreading at a record pace

A half-million industrial robots were installed globally last year, according to data released Thursday by the trade group International Federation of Robotics—an all-time high exceeding the previous record, set in 2018, by 22%.

The total population of industrial robots in the world has now also reached an all-time high, 3.5 million, which exceeds the population of every U.S. city save New York and Los Angeles, according to the federation.

Thanks, California, for accelerating the adoption of technology!

“We have really built a world meant for humans to navigate, not for robots to,” says Dr. Webster of Ball State University. “In the future, we will have to make a world that is attuned to the needs of the robot.”