JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: As a science fiction lover from an early age (Star Trek: the Original Series, y’all) I’ve been fascinated by the concept of robots for a long time. The origin of the word, for those of you who might not have taken Early 20th Century Theater in college*, comes from R.U.R (Rossum’s Universal Robots) by Czech playwright Karl Čapek. The Czech word robota refers to the forced labor of serfs or slaves - yeah, think about that the next time you turn on your Roomba.
Most of the robots in popular culture dating back to the 1920s are, well, sexy. Interesting. Dramatic. Think of the famous machine-person in Metropolis, or the menacing Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still. (“Klaatu barada nikto!”) Rutger Hauer breaking your heart in Blade Runner and Data charming you in Star Trek: The Next Generation. I won’t even get into the vast number of SF films that feature the so-very-not original “beautiful robot girl who will also kill you.” (For an interesting gender twist on the old chestnut, see Ich bein dein Mensch /I’m Your Man on Hulu.)
Sadly, in our world, we are not getting sexy, interesting or dramatic robots. We’re getting burrito bowl makers.
That’s right. Soon, your dinner at Chipotle’s (which dubs itself a “fast casual” restaurant) will be courtesy of Chippy the tortilla chip maker, Autocado, which preps avocados (get it?) and a third robot, sadly without a cutesy name, that assembles salads and burrito bowls. On the one hand, there won’t be much chance of catching e. Coli from our machine friends. On the other hand, goodbye to another swathe of $15/hour jobs.
What’s next? Robby the Robot flipping burgers at Mickey D’s? (“Danger of cholesterol, Will Robinson!”) The Terminator serving you mozzarella sticks at Applebees? (“I’ll be back…with your margaritas.”
What do you think of mechanical meal makers, Reds? And are there any other services you’d rather see robots perform?
*See, Dad, it wasn't a waste of money after all!
HALLIE EPHRON: Mechanical meal makers seem scary to me. Last weekend I was in the airport watching a worker assemble breakfast sandwiches at a Tim Horton’s and thinking how mind numbingly repetitive the work must feel. But it’s a way to make a living… until the robots take over.
My son-in-law is a robotics engineer and I’m endlessly fascinated by his work. For a while he was working on a robotic arm that could perform colon surgery. They were testing it on a pig. TMI, I know. And he worked on the digger arm of the first Mars lander. I think his company has been acquired by Amazon. Figures.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I remember reading R.U.R.! I adored it, and tried to look for other plays like it. LOVE that you know it, too! I still think about it.
Welp, I feel bad for the poor salad-making robot with no cute name. The Mixinator? And the burrito bowl maker could be Bowlene. (Bowlene, Bowlene, Bowlene, Bowlene–I'm beggin’ of you, please don't take my man.) (See? The humans could sing it. It’s the first anti-robot union song.)
Love it for the practicality, I loathe it for the job-taking. It’s such a quandary in progress and transition.
Other services. Potato peeling. Laundry. But wow,the advances in medicine and prosthetics are incredible.
RHYS BOWEN: my grandson is currently doing his masters in robotics and interested in remote surgery. Huge potential there! A robot saves a life in an operation in Africa directed by a surgeon here. And I can see robots doing repetitive jobs, chicken plucking, vegetable planting … but there are humans who need those jobs.
What will happen when all low end jobs are done by robot?
When I was young there were hundreds of women who worked the factory production lines. Boring repetitive work but they chatted with each other and made money for their families. I’m really concerned for the future.
JENN McKINLAY: Bring on the robots! No one should have to do those boring jobs for a rate of pay that is abysmal. Isn’t the whole point of having mechanical help so that people can pursue even bigger and bolder ideas, innovations, and art? Just think, if robots take over doctoring, then healthcare could be free and people wouldn’t be slaves to jobs they hate just for benefits because the insurance and pharmaceutical industries have made life virtually impossible without benefits. People could be happy pursuing their dreams and not risk bankruptcy over an appendicitis because the family robot could fix them right up.
Yes, I’m joking, but…am I? I drive past driverless cars every single day now. It’s becoming common. So, bring on the burrito bowl robots. People have better things to do or they would if they didn’t have to make burrito bowls.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I do worry about the people losing their jobs, and while I'd like to think they could find something better, I'm not convinced that 
they can. And I worry that every bit of human interaction we lose makes us a little less…human. We are all online orders and phone trees and more and more removed from dealing with other people. I know I sound like a real Luddite here, and I think the scientific and medical uses for robotics are amazing and fantastic. But… Progress marches on, and I do love Chipotle, by the way, so I will check out our local robots at the first opportunity.
JULIA: How about you, dear readers? Are you in the Luddite camp with Debs, or do you welcome our robotic overlords like Jenn?
Ignoring, for a moment, the impact on human workers [even in what seems like dead-end, repetitive jobs] means people are freed from boring, dangerous jobs, so I’m all for the robots preparing meals, or working in manufacturing, or sorts mail, or whatever. A world with robots, a la Isaac Asimov doesn’t seem horrific to me. We already have the robotics in space exploration, in hospital operating rooms, and on assembly lines and no one seems to be complaining about any of those robotic applications. Looking forward, it would be great to have robots working hand-in-hand [so to speak] with folks for greater safety and productivity.
ReplyDeleteBUT, whether we like the idea or not, we are taking jobs away from people. And that just seems wrong. It’s a conundrum with no easy answer, but it is hard to argue with roboticizing those jobs that mean people will be safer. Technology marches along, so I suppose burrito bowl assemblers were inevitable . . . .
I feel the same way, Joan. On one hand, it will free people from repetitive, unfulfilling work. On the other hand, we saw with the great globalization of the '90s that those promised "better jobs" never appear for some folks.
DeleteR.U.R.! Spencer Tracy and and his childhood friend Pat O'Brien made their Broadway debuts in that new play when it opened in 1922. I'm sorry to say that I am deeply suspicious of all robot stuff. I share Rhys's concern. The movie "I'm Your Man" is charming, however. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you've seen it, Selden! I loved it, and was astonished at Dan Stevens' fluency in German.
DeleteI could use a Rosie the Robot from The Jetsons to clean the house and I like the push button meal preparer. I'm disabled and it would be a great help for us as my husband just isn't into housework. He doesn't mind cooking as he likes to eat but the clean up not so much. Medicare doesn't help pay for that service.
ReplyDeleteOh, I suspect many of us would like a push-button dinner, Paula!
DeleteI would be less opposed to freeing humans from low paying, tedious jobs if there were more higher paying jobs available to them. But I keep thinking about my husband being under-employed for five years after his job of 32 years evaporated (due to mechanization). We scaped by and had health coverage thanks to a job that he hated...and is now done by robots...until he found his current position.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone seen the R2D2 cleaning robot in Sam's Club? It beeps as it goes up and down the aisles. And it totally scares the bejeezus out of me! I hurry to a different row when I hear it coming!
There’s been a robot (Marty) at my supermarket (Stop and Shop) for the last few years. During the pandemic when all aisles were one-way, Marty constantly went the wrong way. We’ve almost collided a few times.
DeleteI’ve had several robotic-assisted surgeries. As I was being wheeled into the OR for one of the surgeries, someone-I think he was a nurse- said “oh, good! Now we get to play with our robot!”
I know that robots make tools that are used in surgeries. Without robots, who would be making them? And how do those people find other work?
I refuse to use self-checkout at stores. I don’t want to contribute to the loss of jobs for cashiers.
DebRo
I was thinking about people like your husband, Annette. I've known a few well established workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own and had a truly terrible time finding an appropriate replacement.
DeleteEven though I am a lifelong Trekkie (from TOS, like JULIA) and a science nerd, I have a problem with robots taking over these menial tasks. We even had a robot server at some Ontario restaurants delivering meals to dine-in customers during pandemic times. The restaurant owner claimed the robot server was more efficient and was a novelty that customers liked. Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteGrace, that might be fun as a novelty - once. After that, I'd want to speak to a real human being about my order.
DeleteI am stuck on this from Jenn: "I drive past driverless cars every single day now. It’s becoming common." Wait, what?!?!? I have read about them and even taught about them about a decade ago in an ethics class in an engineering program (who's to blame in an accident?), but -- everyday in Arizona? That's faster "progress" than I had realized...
ReplyDeleteI had the same reaction, Amanda. My son and his wife are living in Phoenix for a couple of months until their preemie can come home (yay!!!!!!) - I'll tell them to watch out for driverless cars.
DeleteYou will see driverless cars in San Francisco and all over the Bay Area too. It has been fairly common here for the last five years. Many of the makers are located in California. You will also see them in Austin.
DeleteI have to say, a driverless car, if it can be perfected, would be a godsend where I live - a largely rural state with an aging population and no public transportation outside a few limited options in the largest cities. You can't even get an Uber out in my neighborhood!
DeleteI am conflicted about this, too. HATE the robot who glides up and down the aisles of Stop and Shop. Wouldn't mind owning a Roomba, but that's what the housecleaner every four weeks is for.
ReplyDeleteBut in a minute I'm taking a driver-powered car to the airport. Have a good day, all.
Enjoy your book tour, Edith!
DeleteI probably am a Luddite. While I'm glad of the advances in medicine - and surgery - in other occupations, I am concerned about people losing their jobs. I'm not sure they can just go get a more interesting job, once the menial jobs are taken by robots. And I'm skeptical about prices for anything going down because of robots. They save employers money, but is that savings really passed on to the computer? And will insurance companies ever stop finding things that require insurance? (Even robots probably need to be insured, since homes and contents are insured, and you always have to place a value on the contents. Likewise employers who use robots.) As for putting together burrito bowls, what's next? A robot waiter at your table taking your order? Eeww.
ReplyDeleteI'm concerned that already we are entering a colder and chillier social atmosphere. When I was nineteen, I had one of those "boring" jobs: I worked on an assemply line for RCA, crimping two screws and a capacitor on 100 sets an hour. But it was enjoyable. A mindless job, sure, but I could chat with coworkers on either side, and I made a lot of friends. And I needed that job, by the way. I can think of a number of jobs like that. So . . . pluses and minuses.
In 1st paragraph, that was supposed to be "is that savings really passed on to the customer?"
DeleteToday, a lot of those menial or lower level jobs go unfilled. We are importing people from other countries to work in these jobs. Perhaps in some instances, including risky positions, robots are necessary and better.
DeleteIt's a genuine "pros and cons" list kind of issue, isn't it?
Delete"Yes" for robotics in surgery and for machines that can discover the tiniest lump in a vital organ, or the smallest tear in a meniscus. "No" to Roomba or anything that mindlessly sweeps up the pearl earring you dropped along with any other detritus on the floor after the party. Robots have their uses but I am not thrilled when I hear about the jobs they replace. And here is a glitch to think about. We know our mail is sorted robotically. The reader misreads another address as ours and directs her mail to us constantly. If a person were sorting it, that wouldn't happen, not the same wrong address.
ReplyDeleteAs for sci fi, yep, Star Trek the original series for sure, and all the permutations until I quit TV a couple years ago. I love the character, Data in STNG, but who saw ALIEN? The AI character was surely the villain there.
I have two Roombas and they are very efficient. We have them programmed where they can clean any room we indicate or the entire floor. No jobs lost, just life made easier for us.
DeleteYes, the evil AI is a staple of SF, Judy. And Anon, I have a friend who says her Roomba's best and highest purpose is as cat entertainment!
DeleteA word of warning: Ex-ter-mi-nate...
ReplyDeleteA fellow Whovian!!
DeleteDebRo
Don't worry, Susan, you can always get away by running up a flight of stairs. :-D
DeleteI come down on the Luddite side, though I do see the uses in surgery and other high end, highly skilled areas. I have immigrant friends, one of whom works at a Mexican restaurant, not Chipotle but a competitor. Three work as cleaners at night at an Amazon warehouse. It means so much to them to have a job and have money coming in.
ReplyDeleteAs a baseball fan, I would consider having a robot call balls and strikes. It can't be any worse than some of the calls I've seen. MLB is working on it, but the technology isn't quite there yet--from what I've heard, balls that bounce on their way into the strike zone are being read as strikes. I guess that would mean that cricket bowlers might have a future in baseball.
That's an interesting twist I hadn't heard of, Gillian. It could change the game a lot, as it did for football when the refs started using instant replay to judge their calls.
DeleteWhere I live it's mostly high school kids whose first jobs are working in fast foods, probably doing those mind-numbing boring jobs, but still without those jobs I'd hate to think what might happen. Those first jobs are very important to kids and they learn so much! It's not just the pay check but that's important for them too.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely all for the robotic jobs in the medical field.
Interesting! We have zero teens or high school students working in fast food. Federal and state law limits the hours they can work, most businesses would not consider hiring them. Here it is all immigrants working in those jobs.
DeleteIt must depend on where you live, Anon - we have very few immigrants in Maine compared to the overall population. My father-in-law, a southern Californian, was always astonished to see white native English-speakers taking burger orders and cleaning cars at the drive-through
DeleteBay Area in California.
DeleteI don't think we have much choice - it will happen. I like the thought (from Jenn?) that people who are replaced by boring jobs will find other things to do that are more worthwhile. And of course science and medicine will benefit people. How our society will look 200 years from now will be interesting. AI may be considered a form of robotics and there are already problems on the horizon.
ReplyDeleteYou're very right in that the changes to society will be very interesting, Anon!
DeleteJenn, I had to Google Phoenix and driverless cars. Yep you are one of the few towns where driverless cars are doing pretty well. Maybe because Phoenix is flat that the cameras have a line of sight that makes it easier to navigate. San Francisco (a very hilly city) has had to ban driverless cars because of serious problems.
ReplyDeleteThey are not banned in San Francisco yet, only paused while the city develops new policy. The problems were not serious! San Francisco is just hyper about anything going wrong once. Their statistics are better than human drivers. I live in a hilly part of the Bay Area and see driverless cars daily, no issues.
DeleteI said above that I would welcome driverless cars in my area once all the kinks are ironed out. I like the idea of not being stuck in my house at eighty-plus years old just because I can't drive myself safely anymore!
DeleteConsidering I still use a flip phone, I'm more likely closer to being a Luddite like Deb than accepting the yoke of robotic servitude like Jenn. Or somewhere in between.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to lose my job to a robot but considering how most fast food places seem to employ people who can't ever get my order right, a robot there couldn't be much worse. Except, I shouldn't have to put in my own order when you have 9 people standing around with most of them doing nothing (true story).
But driverless cars? Please, we've all seen the stories about them crashing. And if some enterprising hacker gets a hold of one, all hell breaks loose. So if you don't have someone driving, the car stays off the road thank you very much.
Of course, we're all responding to these questions on the World Wide Web so it isn't like we can say we are opposed to all technology, can we?
Oh Julia, just thought you might like to know that Walter Koenig will be at Rhode Island Comic Con next weekend for all three days if you want to get your Geek Girl on to meet one of the original cast members. I was hoping to go but sadly I'm going to miss out. I would've loved to have met him because of Star Trek but also because of his connection to Babylon 5 as well.
Jay, I LOVED him in Babylon 5 - such an amazing job to take on when every science fiction fan thinks of you as sweet, loveable Chekov!
DeleteFlora here. I suppose I'm a bit of both. I'm all for robots doing dangerous and technological marvels (surgery), even okay with them doing menial work. But, let's not take away those mindless jobs until we have replacement jobs--what will they be? What training do we need to establish? And I like human contact, even when I'm just grabbing a burrito bowl. Will the robot tell you their favorite? Steer you towards something you might not try on your own?
ReplyDeleteWell, if they start combining the robots with the sort of data-mined information every company is collecting for us, we could see the automaton making all sort of alarmingly on-point recommendations, Flora!
DeleteMy Chipotle is closed half the time because they lack human workers. Other places like it have reduced hours and sometimes have a closed sign on the door when they are supposed to be open or drive through only when the people they have don’t show up. The robots are an answer to worker shortages. Also someone is going to have to supervise the robots and keep them in working order. Obviously that McDonald’s ice cream machine that is always out of order is not fixing itself. I think robots and humans can live in harmony.
ReplyDeleteYou make me think, Brenda - there have been a lot of hotels and restaurants in Maine that have had reduced hours since the pandemic, because they just can't find enough staff (the high cost of a limited amount of housing here doesn't help.) Having robots do back-of-house jobs could really help with that situation.
DeleteGreat topic this morning! Just last night I saw something on Social Media about how a Cafe in Japan uses Robots. The most interesting thing was that the paralyzed patients in a hospital uses remote control to tell the Robots what to do. The reasoning was that people, who are paralyzed, will be able to earn income because of their work with Robots!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in High School (what is the equivalent in England and other countries?), our Physics Club got a Robot. The Robot was four feet tall with a "face". It was just two dots for eyes and a wavy line "mouth" that moved when it talked. In these days, Robots were very basic. With the advances in Technology, my hope is that the new Robots will have "video" face with a real time Video of either a Sign Language Interpreter or a person who speaks Clearly. That would be Deaf Friendly.
Driverless cars...Yikes! They have been involved in car crashes. Let's say I am NOT a fan of that idea!
Aren't Robots used for Search and Rescue? There was a Hart to Hart movie where someone was trapped under a mountain cave and technology was used to find the person. And aren't Robots used as Crash Dummies in car tests now?
As a Deaf person, I am a Big Fan of Technology, especially when it is used to help me. For example, I was at an event where I was able to use the Speech to Text aspect of my Notes App. and it worked as long as there was WI-FI. I can call my family and friends by text. My hearing Mom surprised her teenage students because she knew how to text on a mobile phone. I said to my Mom that there are benefits to having a Deaf child. Technology has been a boost for Deaf people in many ways. It helps with lip reading too. It helps with cochlear implants and sound training. FaceTime is another way to communicate.
Right now, concerning Robots, I am on the fence.
Diana
I can envision lots of ways robotic helpers could be total game changers for people with disabilities, Diana. Help with mobility, communication, self-care and, like in your example, providing 'waldos' allowing people to accomplish work they otherwise wouldn't physically be able to.
DeleteFood for thought, Julia.
ReplyDeleteSteve's brother-in-law was an early pioneer in robotics, back in the 1980s when new, mostly manufacturing applications were being imagined. He lives in the Bay area, but he worked closely with what was then Cincinnati Milacron to help develop some of the technology. He sold the company a good while back, Milacron was bought by a Japanese firm, and they moved out of this area, so I have no idea what became of their projects, but I suspect they were instrumental to more complicated ones.
Robotics in surgical procedures have made an enormous difference in success rate, thanks to both precision and reduced exposure to pathogens in ORs. Our cars would cost much more without robotics, and Amazon couldn't possibly fulfill orders in the blink of an eye without them.
But at what cost? Jenn, it's still not exactly free for companies to replace humans with robotic equivalents. Those machines are touchy electronics and are very expensive to buy, as well as to maintain. What I most object to, though, is dehumanization. Every time I go to the big grocery store, or to Target, et al, there are more self checkout lanes than the last time. I much prefer exchanging pleasantries with the nice lady at the produce market.
Farming, by the way, became mechanized a long time ago, using some of the same geolocating technology that Roombas and robotic lawnmowers use. However, the need for efficiency has at the same time required farms to use methods that leave no potential for biodiversity from edges and hedges and other features of farmland that allow beneficial pollinators and other creatures to live in harmony with the croplands. We are only hurting ourselves with some of these ideas, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteSome of the "advances" in agriculture that we have, courtesy of Big Agribusiness, are downright frightening, Karen.
Delete"Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.” says the Bard.
ReplyDeleteBut I think the human brain is wired to want to make new inventions - fire/wheel/bronze & metals/etc.
The advances in science and medicine have been astonishing and for the better due to computers, technology, AI, but none would be possible without the human brain.
We are, after all, a tool-making species, Anon - and what are these but another tool?
DeleteFascinating! I read a lot of scifi when I was younger, and particularly liked the works of Polish writer Stanislav Lem. Robots were his thing. I went hunting for what he had to stay on the subject. Sharing my favorite: ""Eventually the humans will dwarf down to the level of brainless servants of iron geniuses and may be even start to worship them as Gods" - Something to look forward to?!?
ReplyDeleteHallie, I've known some guys who practically worship their cars/trucks as iron gods...
DeleteExactly Hallie. I fear that if AI becomes so sophisticated and intelligent could it gain a conscience? Could it be a competitor with humans. After all AI can compute faster and better out distancing humans.
ReplyDeleteMechanization and automation have been going on for at least 200 years, as Karen says (the cotton gin was 1794!), and we can't imagine the world without them now. As long as robotics saves firms money, I don't think we'll be able to do anything about the spread of robots, as an Anonymous said above, and one day we may take it all for granted, as we do tractors on farms. But, as Joan said, what will happen to all the people who lose their jobs? Even if there were a universal basic income, I think most people need occupations of some kind to stay sane. And I worry about complete isolation. Remember Asimov's THE NAKEN SUN, where it had become obscene for people actually to be in the same dwelling with each other, and each person lived alone, far away from others, and worked from home? (Think artificial insemination and robots raising children.) That's extreme, but online shopping, cell phones, working from home, and robots do take us in that direction. As someone above said, jobs serve the purpose of allowing people to socialize; lots of people go to work not only because they need the money but to hang out with their colleagues. Well, Julia, as you see, I've gone a bit off track with this, but it's a thought-provoking post.
ReplyDeleteAnd yours is a thought-provoking reply, Kim!
DeleteIf I saw a driverless car, I would faint.
ReplyDeleteDon’t faint! They are in Boston too. All Tesla’s have the functionality to operate without a driver. . Common to see them back-out driverless and pickup the owner at the door of the building.
DeleteNope nope nope. Fainting.
DeleteThey should put dogs in the front seat. Might as well make it funny.
DeleteLove that idea! Except I don’t want dogs hurt when the driverless car gets in an accident…. — Pat S
DeleteIf I could add a video clip in the comments, I'd put one of the old SNL shorts about "Toonces, the Driving Cat."
DeleteI'm torn. I worry about the job losses. Like Debs, I'm not sure there are options of opportunity available for the displaced. And what do kids in high school do? Burger flipping, entry level retail (Woolworths), and the were our gateway to gainful employment. On a somber note - I remember 2001 a Space Odyssey. Hal the computer - need I say more. What happens if those robots decide to mutiny-or worse. We'd be helpless. Nope. I enjoy chatting with the humans too much.
ReplyDeleteMaybe chatting with real live humans will become a luxury experience, Kait - how many people would pay extra if you actually got a person on the line right away instead of an AI menu?
DeleteI am on the fence. Years ago banks acquired ATMs explaining it would save us customers money. Ha. I didn't see those fees disappear, just some of the employees. Some jobs are perfect for robots; others not so much. I think a lot hinges on the humans in charge and their philosophies. Are robots a tool to be used or are they substitutes for humans? I will never forget Hal and his "good" intentions.
ReplyDeleteI see both sides in terms of ease to the user (Roombas, ATMs, robotic arm “fetching” your library book from the depths of the library at SF State so they could make more of the library available for charging stations and computer desks) and the obvious medical and mechanical applications. I don’t think that Chipotle replacing the human workers with robots helps anyone but the Chipotle shareholders. The idea that a robot doing a fast food level job will free the humans to get better paying jobs is laughable. As it is, post-Covid the teens/young twenties don’t want to do the introductory jobs because they feel the jobs are beneath them. The problem is that most of them have no marketable skills without first learning about the discipline to go to the job on a schedule, answering to a boss, figuring out that “this job sucks” and then determining they’ll continue with their studies so they never have to do that kind of work again. A bit simplistic, but the point is that there are people (older or immigrants) who really do need that job. And yes, the human interaction is what keeps us human. Didn’t we learn that during lockdown? — Pat S
ReplyDeleteI owe any interest in science fiction or fantasy to my son Kevin. It was his interest in them that got me to give them a go and enjoy what I did. Reading Douglas Adams would not have happened without Kevin. I admit that I've only read two, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but Kevin had read all of them and I have those books in one of his boxes of books. I now intend to read them all. And, would I have ever enjoyed watching Farscape if not for Kevin. Lots more, but one sci-fi author we didn't share, but I love is Connie Willis, and it's still a goal of mine to meet her someday.
ReplyDeleteRobots taking over ordinary jobs freaks me out a bit. Can you substitute items if a robot is fixing the food? And, I'm with Debs and others who are afraid there aren't going to be higher paying jobs waiting for the humans replaced. I am fascinated by the use of robotics in medicine, but I'm not sure I want a robot operating on me. I guess it would be good that they wouldn't be distracted or in a bad mood or whatever else though. I guess I'm one of the few people who haven't seen robots in stores, like the Sam's cleaner, but I haven't been out a lot. Annette, I'm with you about hurrying to another aisle if I heard the robot cleaner coming.
Working as an Automation Engineer I expressed the Luddite view once and my co-worker suggested that it will create more jobs that will be interesting to humans. Let the robots do the repetitive tasks. So I’m not in the Luddite camp anymore. Time will tell!
ReplyDelete