From Business Insider:
San Francisco is considering a once unthinkable measure to offset the threat of job-killing robots
The tech industry collectively face-palmed when Trump's treasury secretary said earlier this year that the threat of robots taking human jobs was "not even on our radar screen."
There is a growing evidence that robots and artificial intelligence could displace huge swaths of the American workforce in the next couple of decades, much sooner than the "50 to 100 more years away" timeline that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he expects.
In San Francisco, where robots already run food deliveries for Yelp's Eat24 and make lattés at a mall coffee kiosk, one politician is working to ensure the city stays ahead of the curve.
Supervisor Jane Kim is exploring a tax on robots as one solution to offset the economic devastation a robot-powered workforce might bring. Companies that use robots to perform tasks previously done by humans would pay the city. Those public funds might be used to help retrain workers who lose their jobs to robots or to finance a basic income initiative.
Geez - talk about nanny-state protectionism. This benefits nobody. How about energizing your business and getting out there and competing in the marketplace. Don't drag everyone down to your moribund level, get out there and win!
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