Charlie was a professional boxer before he loses his job when human boxing is replaced by robot boxing. This reflects the ethical concerns of job displacement discussed in the chapter, where automation and technology lead to workers losing their jobs. After being displaced by robotics technology for entertainment, Charlie has needed to adapt to a world managing robot boxing.
The movie also has high-tech companies that dominate the robot boxing industry because they have the resources to develop advanced robots. For example, Zeus is backed by a massive tech company and is very difficult to beat because of the large investments the company has made into advancing the technology of the robot. This represents the "winner-takes-all" economic structure mentioned in the chapter. Zeus represents the high-performing athlete who takes most, if not all, of the rewards from the World Robot Boxing league.
Also, purchasing these high-tech robots come at a high cost. The wealthy are able to invest in more sophisticated robots and therefore have a better chance of winning than the poor, like Charlie. However, he was able to buy Noisy Boy, a high-level tech Japanese robot, for $45,000 from the money he got from Max's uncle. This is still a large sum of money, showing that access to the best technology requires large financial investments.Â
It also interesting to see that the advanced robotics technology in the movie, which could have been used for industrial automation or other real-world applications, is focused on entertainment through robot fighting. This provokes ethical questions on the societal priorities of technological development. The movie shows that instead of focusing on practical applications, robotics has been steered toward profit-driven, entertainment-focused uses, ignoring the potential benefits in other fields.