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Category: economics – Page 8

Robotic companions address the male loneliness epidemic.

The rise of highly realistic humanoid AI companions, like Arya, aims to alleviate male loneliness and promote social interaction, but raises female concerns about their impact on relationships, societal dynamics, and their ability to interest men.

## Technological and Social Impact 1. Arya, a flagship humanoid AI robot, is designed to combat the male loneliness epidemic by serving as a highly realistic girlfriend capable of forming genuine human-like bonds. 2. Priced at $110,000 for a basic model and $175,000 for a full-body version, Arya is marketed as cheaper than a wife in the West, offering companionship and household assistance. ## Economic and Demographic Implications t get pregnant and men wouldn## Customization and Functionality s AI is customizable to learn about users and brands, making her suitable for promoting products at conventions and becoming a rock star attraction. ” +2. The robot can be programmed to cook, clean, and provide companionship on command, fulfilling traditional household roles without incorporating smart or self-aware features to avoid potential rebellion.

Please don’t harass the content creators and be respectful in the comment section.

This video is satire, take it as such.

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According to management consulting firm BCG, only around half of all aluminum beverage cans are recycled in the United States, which is far behind countries such as Germany. What’s more, aluminum has one of the highest recycling rates in the U.S. — only around 19% of the durable goods sold in the U.S. are recycled, including only 14% of plastic containers and packaging. The rest is sent to landfills, where it leaches toxic chemicals into the surrounding soil and waterways.

New processes such as the one developed by the MIT researchers can hopefully make a difference in those numbers.

“We’re not just preventing waste,” said John H. Lienhard, another one of the researchers. “This membrane technology also enables a circular economy for aluminum, which could reduce the need for new mining and help mitigate some of the industry’s environmental footprint.”

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On the positive side, some human entrepreneurs could become very wealthy, possibly trillionaires if they could tap into these AI’s wealth somehow. Additionally, super rich AIs could be a solution to the United States’ growing debt crisis, and eliminate the need for whether countries like China can continue to buy our debt so we can indefinitely print dollars. In fact, can America launch its own AI agents to create enough crypto wealth to buy its debt?

Naturally, the risk is that these AIs might eventually try to buy other financial instruments, like existing bonds and stocks. But it’s unlikely they’d be able to do so, unless more of the U.S.’ economy went into crypto and became blockchain based. Additionally, AI bots aren’t allowed to have traditional bank accounts yet.

Whatever happens, clearly there is an urgent need for the U.S. government to address such potentialities. Given that these AIs could start to proliferate in the next few months, I suggest Congress and the Trump administration immediately convene a special task force to specifically tackle the possibility of an AI Monetary Hegemony.

The real danger is that even with regulation, programmers will still be able to release autonomous AIs into the wild—just as many illegal things already happen on the web despite the existence of laws. Programmers might release these types of AIs for kicks, while others try to profit from it—and some may even do so even as a form of terrorism to try to hamper the world economy. Whatever the reason, the creation of autonomous AIs will soon be a reality of life. And vigilance and foresight will be needed as these new AIs start to autonomously disrupt our financial future.

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00:00 Introduction.
00:12 DeepSeek Rocks Global Tech Markets.
08:05 China & Crypto.

China Update provides viewers with the most up to date political, economic, and geostrategic analysis on China. Videos are based on hundreds of articles, think tank reports, government statements and other resources in English and Chinese. China Update is fully independent, all views and analysis are all my own and I make the videos.

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In economics, the Jevons paradox (/ ˈ dʒ ɛ v ə n z / ; sometimes Jevons effect) occurs when technological advancements make a resource more efficient to use (thereby reducing the amount needed for a single application), however, as the cost of using the resource drops, overall demand increases causing total resource consumption to rise. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Governments have typically expected efficiency gains to lower resource consumption, rather than anticipating possible increases due to the Jevons paradox. [ 5 ]

In 1865, the English economist William Stanley Jevons observed that technological improvements that increased the efficiency of coal use led to the increased consumption of coal in a wide range of industries. He argued that, contrary to common intuition, technological progress could not be relied upon to reduce fuel consumption. [ 6 ] [ 7 ]

The issue has been re-examined by modern economists studying consumption rebound effects from improved energy efficiency. In addition to reducing the amount needed for a given use, improved efficiency also lowers the relative cost of using a resource, which increases the quantity demanded. This may counteract (to some extent) the reduction in use from improved efficiency. Additionally, improved efficiency increases real incomes and accelerates economic growth, further increasing the demand for resources. The Jevons paradox occurs when the effect from increased demand predominates, and the improved efficiency results in a faster rate of resource utilization. [ 7 ] .

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China has unveiled 2 inexpensive open-source technologies that might change the world. DeepSeek is open-source generative AI which appears to be performing as well as frontrunners like Anthropic’s Claude. Engine AI is open-source robotics, which has a natural walking gait. If you combine these two elements together, the recipe creates either the rancid fish pie of the Economic Singularity or the delicious blueberry cheesecake of Superabundance. “One of the year’s most interesting tech stories is in full swing. A Chinese startup called DeepSeek released R1, an open-source artificial intelligence model that’s sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley and beyond.” s competitive robotics market by offering cost-effective solutions.”” + https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20250121PD213/robot-nvidia-s…-2024.html https://www.forbes.com/sites/callumbooth/2025/01/27/deepseek…-internet/ https://youtu.be/B4YcuN5maD8?si=4a7YtUj1KchxQlXG Open source bot: https://github.com/engineai-robotics/engineai_humanoid

Shenzhen-based startup Engine AI recently released a demo video of its SE01 humanoid robot, highlighting its remarkably lifelike walking gait. The video earned praise from a senior Nvidia scientist. Engine AI aims to penetrate China’s competitive robotics market by offering cost-effective solutions.

China’s viral robot video sparks debate and validation.

A video released by Shenzhen Special Zone Daily shows an adult-sized humanoid robot walking steadily through the streets of Shenzhen, with a posture and speed strikingly similar to a human’s.

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Defining nasa’s low earth orbit goals.

NASA has outlined its final goals and objectives for low Earth orbit, aiming to expand the use of space and advance microgravity research, technology, and exploration for everyone’s benefit. The agency’s Low Earth Orbit Microgravity Strategy, developed with input from various stakeholders, will guide efforts to sustain a continuous human presence in orbit, boost economic opportunities, and strengthen global partnerships.

A vision for continuous human presence.

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Rare minerals discovered in Japan could be a game changer for their economic security.

A group of researchers in Japan uncovered a cache of rare minerals in the seabed around Minami-Tori-shima island harbours.

The Nippon Foundation and the University of Tokyo conducted a survey which discovered around 610,000 metric tons of cobalt and 740,000 metric tons of nickel.

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THE ECONOMIC SINGULARITY IN 2 TO 3 YEARS.

“My guess is that by 2026 or 2027, we will have AI systems that are broadly better than almost all humans at almost all things,” Amodei (Anthropic CEO) said at the event.

Enter the new era of AI coworkers.

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Unexpected crises or events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or natural disasters, can cause disruptions to a city’s economy. For instance, forcing businesses to temporarily close or hindering their daily operations. As businesses often rely on each other, changes in the operation of one company can cause ripple effects, like influencing its suppliers, distributors or other businesses it depends on.

To explore the widespread economic impact of shocks and adverse events, past studies primarily examined the proximity between businesses, assuming that businesses are primarily connected to nearby companies or establishments. However, some findings suggest that people’s movements between businesses (i.e., behavior-based dependencies) also contribute to the resilience of cities following economic disruptions.

These dependencies are essentially relationships between businesses shaped by the behavior and habits of shared customers. For example, if a tech company is forced to close its offices, this might impact not only other nearby restaurants, but also gyms or other establishments located in different parts of a , which some employees typically visit before or after work.

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