When the robots take over

[Bill Bonner's Diary]( When the Robots Take Over By Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners [bill bonner] BALTIMORE – How about those techs! As Chris Lowe reported in [yesterday’s Market Insight column](, the eight most valuable tech companies in the world – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google parent Alphabet, Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent – have added $1.7 trillion in market value this year. That’s more than Canada’s entire economy. And it exceeds the worth of Germany’s biggest 30 companies put together. Recommended Link [Get Teeka's Top Cryptocurrency Ideas]( Until midnight Friday, we're replaying Teeka Tiwari's live cryptocurrency Q&A. For two hours, he answers questions from everyday people and explains everything you need to get started in this once-in-a-lifetime market. And he also makes a major announcement about his research service that you'll want to hear before midnight tomorrow. [Click here to watch the entire thing for free right now]( -- Rise of the Machines There are two major reactions to the future: Some people are excited… and some are alarmed. Oil production began to recover last year. But the number of oil-rig workers did not. Why? New technology automated much of the work. Now, it takes only five roughnecks to do the work that 20 did just a couple of years ago. Oil-rig workers were well paid. That’s why rig owners are so eager to replace them. The machines don’t sue you when they break their legs. They don’t smoke on the job. And they don’t spend Saturday and Sunday with their families. But since the machines are taking the place of high-wage jobs, that leaves the formerly well-paid workers with nowhere to go but down market. That helps explain, too, why the only real growth in the job market has occurred in the service sectors – where bartenders and car parkers earn low wages in low-skilled jobs. Humans are forced to take the jobs the robots don’t want. And the number of robots in the workforce is expected to quadruple by 2025. By 2030, one estimate – widely circulated – is that half of all existing jobs will have disappeared. Recommended Link [Reclusive California millionaire finally reveals his "key" secret]( [image]( In 1 day, this gentleman almost lost his entire $1,000,000 life savings. But by [using his “secret key” technique](… he saved all his money… generated a fortune… and got to retire at 42, with more security than he'd ever imagined. The most surprising part? His “secret key” wasn't a one-time tactic. It's been responsible for 389 winners and counting… and he's been quietly using it for the past 26 years to make millions. [Click here and see his “secret key” in action]( -- Human Pets Then, smarter than we are, the robots will help us in every aspect of our lives. They’ll tell us when to brush our teeth and whom to vote for. They’ll correct our grammar, diagnose problems with our cars… and suggest remedies for itchy skin, too. They will take out the trash, make stew out of tree moss… and unlock the gates of paradise. Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman was asked recently at the Council of Foreign Relations: What’s ahead? Will millions of people become “superfluous,” as Yuval Harari suggests, with nothing to do? Will these super-smart computers keep them as pets? Big “social changes” are coming, says Kahneman: This could be happening within the next few decades, and it’s going to change the world to, you know, an extent that we can’t imagine. And you don’t need singularity [a state of virtually instantaneous progress driven by intelligent machines] for that. You need a set of advances that are localized. And we can see those happening… self-driving cars, you know, that’s just one example. Blowing a Fuse Here at the Diary, we’re neither worried nor wonderstruck. First, all humans are superfluous. Always have been. We make work for ourselves; it isn’t given to us by the economy or the government. Second, we suspect the promise of artificial intelligence is largely nonsense. Machines can learn to do simple tasks, such as driving a truck. Yes, and you can get one to vacuum your carpet – big deal. And yes, they will be able to write dumb articles for lazy journalists… make smart calculations for engineers… and eliminate the need for most doctors. But so what? In the 19th century, machines took over the routine work. People fretted and whined when the automobile put the manure handlers out of work. But the more machines were able to do, the more people wanted things that were “handmade.” The more they made physical work unnecessary, the more people wanted personal trainers. And now, the more robots do, the more humans will want what they can’t do. In a world full of self-driving cars, we will be tortured to madness by the dream of taking control of the steering wheel ourselves. And when we all have robot valets, who make sure our ties are always at ease with our jackets, we will find some combination of colors so vile and shocking that the machines will blow their fuses and refuse to work for us. The world today does not lack computing power. Neither natural nor artificial. There are plenty of smart people around. More PhDs… more patents… more think tanks – more brain cells than ever before are applied to the pressing challenges of our day. And more computers, too, working at processing speeds that would have knocked our socks off just 10 years ago. The Apollo space program used a computer with the processing power of a single Nintendo NES game console from 1985. The iPhone 6 (released in 2014; we’re now on the iPhone 8) has the same processing power as a Cray supercomputer from the 1980s. And the total computing power available to mankind is now about a quadrillion times more than it was when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. And so what? Are we happier? Are we richer? Is the world a better place? And if such a huge increase in computing power has failed to improve our lives, what can we expect from more? Recommended Link [Attention Seniors: MUST-SEE Obscure Social Security Contract]( Thanks to a contract [just like this one](, you could receive four deposits of as much as $6,880 in 2017… No matter your age or income level… Without having to pay extra taxes… And without affecting your Social Security checks. If you act before January 19th, you could be the next one to receive these deposits from the private sector. You just need to put your name on the list of recipients. [Click here to see how]( -- Too Much Intelligence Our phones give us the time to within a tenth of a second, but people are still late. Our computers correct our misspellings and verb tenses, but half of what we read is still senseless or trivial. The fancy new New Holland tractor we bought for the ranch just a year ago broke down for no apparent reason, while our old Ford from 1972 is still going strong. Is the music better than The Beach Boys in 1965 or Chopin’s Nocturne No. 8 from 1837? Are the cops more level-headed than they were on The Andy Griffith Show? Are the judges wiser… the girls prettier… or the politicians more honest than when Ike was in the White House? The problem today… as it always has been… is not that we have too little intelligence. In fact, with so much additional computing brain power coming online… we may have too much. Our hearts can’t keep up. Still, our advice is to relax. Let the robots take over. Be gracious. And dignified. Let them vacuum the carpet. And kick them down the stairs when they aren’t looking. Regards, [Signature] Bill MARKET INSIGHT: A Tech Darling Stumbles By Chris Lowe, Editor at Large, Bonner & Partners [bill bonner] Yesterday, we showed you that the eight largest technology companies have been on a tear in 2017. But that doesn’t mean all tech stocks are riding high… Today’s chart tracks the year-to-date returns of stock in Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla. [Chart] As you can see, since its 2017 peak, set in September, Tesla is down 20%. – Chris Lowe FEATURED READS [The Last Time We Saw This in Stocks Was 2007]( U.S. stocks have enjoyed a strong year. Volatility has hit record lows while stock prices hover near historic highs. But under the surface, a warning signal just flashed. The last time we saw this was in 2007, right before the financial crisis. [Coal’s Last Stand]( President Trump campaigned on a promise to revive the coal industry. Coal jobs even rebounded slightly as the industry anticipated rising use. But now the writing’s on the wall. Coal’s days seem to be numbered. [Why the Deep State Needs Saudi Arabia]( Saudi Arabia is in the midst of a political crackdown. But rather than decry these actions, President Trump is singing the Saudis’ praises. Here’s why. MAILBAG In the mailbag, one reader considers [how technology has impacted society](… Your analysis of technology in our world is missing something. There are hundreds of millions of people around the world that were lifted from poverty in the last 50 years thanks to technology. If you haven’t looked at the work of the late Hans Rosling, I would recommend that you at least watch a couple of his TED Talks. – Joe A. Meanwhile, [cryptocurrencies remain a popular subject](… I think you are right on the “money.” I sit and watch the gleeful reports of record Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq indices with some dismay, knowing how many fools are being sucked into this. And bitcoin, amongst others, too. Perhaps the biggest punchbowl of all will be created in the cryptocurrency arena when millions of investors realize how fake the current credit-based market boom is. Gold may really end up the poor unnoticed wallflower, which should demonstrate how ephemeral the notion of value is in every human mind. – Matthew H. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… March 2, 2000 started like any other day… But when master trader Jeff Clark walked into his office, he saw that the stock market had turned against him. He was on the verge of losing $1 million. [Here’s what he did next.]( [Video]( [Bonner and Partners]( © Bonner & Partners 55 NE 5th Avenue, Suite 100, Delray Beach, FL 33483 [www.bonnerandpartners.com]( This e-mail was sent to {EMAIL} because you subscribed to this service. To stop receiving these emails, click [here](. Customer Service Bonner & Partners welcomes your feedback and questions. But please note: The law prohibits us from giving personalized advice. 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