Board Thread:Speculation House/@comment-4830106-20130810030606/@comment-24260323-20140507002144

Angren Túrë wrote: Well, it doesn't look like the robots are all that great at defending shipments either, but there is just the possibility that they're being Worfed to show how badass Blake and Adam either.

You could go the 'Dust is still too complicated to be trusted around robots only' route, but those androids seem advanced enough. Either using Faunus labor is cheaper or we've just found a plot hole. It is true that their labor is cheaper. But the undeniable fact is that it is a source of short-term profit. The smart businessman invests in long-term profit by investing in equipment and safety as well as the wages of the worker. A safer worker is a healthy worker, a healthy worker produces more profit, more profit means more money to invest in other things.

I don't see it as being benevolent to others though, I just see it as maximizing efficiency.

Hell, the first recorded use of a steam engine was in 1st Century AD by Hero of Alexandria. But people chose to use slaves because it was cheaper at the time. All of the things needed for an industrial revolution were present way before it happened, but didn't happen until England combined all of them.