Our goal is to create unmanned production lines that can operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We expect this to address problems with productivity and labor shortages.

Yes, the robots will solve all our problems and save us all.

If you believe automation is going to make everything better you are staggeringly naive.

If you believe automation is going to make everything better you are staggeringly naive.

It is staggeringly naive to think that restricting automation is a good (or even possible) idea.

I don't know that anything that claims to make everything better. But automation will on balance be good for us, unless you think that people really want to be consigned to jobs that robots can do. Every transformative technology eliminates old jobs. And every time, new jobs are created.

But then I am talking to a guy whose nickname is Luddite. Time to go to bed....

There is NO NEED to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

More robots, less robots - you still need people, and that is the area that Japan has no solution for. Are they going to build robots capable of impregnating females here so the population can grow?

More robots, less robots - you still need people, and that is the area that Japan has no solution for.

You need less people and one day robots will maintain and build robots with the human only being responsible and in control. That's one of the solutions Japan is working on :)

one day robots will maintain and build robots

Robots already build robots, have been for some time.

Robots already build robots, have been for some time.

Not autonomous.