this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Sometimes machines just fall short. Machines can automate some types of repetitive tasks, true. But others are tasks that are more difficult to truly automate, like busing tables. Most people can bus tables, but it would be tricky for a machine to do so reliably.
Edit: Oh, well, maybe I spoke too soon about busing tables.
Machines and robots remove unskilled labour and provide skilled labour opportunities instead. Back in the days farmer was just a dirty peasant with a shovel and barely any skills. Today farmer is a highly skilled managerial role.
But some people decide to never get any skills, the society doesn't need such people.
To a point, but again some things are just really hard to mechanize. I don't see cashier or janitor disappearing anytime soon. Sure, a single person can clean an area much faster now than a hundred years ago using tools, but something fully automated like the Roomba can barely do a half-ass job on a single floor.
Ever been to an Amazon Fresh shop? Zero staff inside. You just walk in, take what you want and walk out.
Ever ordered groceries from Ocado? They're fully automated until delivery process.
Hard or not - everything is possible.
I have not visited an Amazon Fresh shop, but from what I've heard they're not doing so great. Maybe it's just a pause in their inevitable takeover, but their already paltry number has been reduced as of late.
I don't know, they're doing OK in the UK amid all the issues.