In Factories, Robots Struggle to Do What Humans Do

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

News, Tech News

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2024

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

You've heard it before: Robots are coming for our jobs. But are they really? It turns out that robots aren’t as common in U.S. factories as you might think. In 2019, only 11.1% of U.S. manufacturing plants reported that they used robots, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Part of the reason might be that it’s difficult to engineer robots to do the same things that humans do. WSJ reporter Lauren Weber visited the Alene Candles factory in New Albany, Ohio to get a glimpse of what automation really looks like, and whether it helps or hurts workers. Alex Ossola hosts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is your bank at home in three markets or 53?
0:05.0	With on-the-ground specialists in over 50 markets,
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0:24.5	Voted the UK's Best Trade Finance Bank for seven consecutive years by Euromoney UK Trade Finance
0:29.1	Survey 2023.
0:31.1	Welcome. Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Tuesday January 16th. I'm Alex Oscela for the Wall Street Journal.
0:40.0	Coming up on today's show, New Year's may have come and gone, but there's still time to lay a strong foundation for the year ahead.
0:47.0	One move to consider, a digital decluttering.
0:50.0	From email folders to password managers, we'll find out how to make all aspects of your digital life as
0:55.9	Zen as possible from W.S.J. contributor Perry or Mont Blumberg.
1:00.9	And then, the spheres around automation, the worry that robots are going to take jobs,
1:05.3	may be overblown when it comes to manufacturing.
1:08.2	W.S.J. reporter Lauren Weber tells us about a factory she visited in Ohio,
1:13.0	and why it's surprisingly hard to get robots
1:15.2	to do simple tasks like straightening candle wicks.
1:17.8	But first, did you resolve to keep things tidy this year?
1:25.0	To organize the pantry or finally clean out the garage?
1:28.0	Well, you might want to consider bringing that decluttering spirit to your digital life.
1:32.0	W.S.J. contributor Perry Ormont Blumberg that decluttering spirit to your digital life.
1:32.8	W.S.J. contributor Perry Ormont Blumberg is here to tell us how.
	...

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