The Future is Here and Robots May Be Heading for Your Job
Should we be worried about artificial intelligence?
A few days ago as we sat waiting for our meal at our favorite local restaurant, everything was the same, except for one thing. The restaurant had a new staff member on hand -it was 5 feet tall, shiny, clean, and efficient.
Mr. Robot, our server, promptly brought our food and left quickly to attend to another customer. We laughed about this but beyond the amusement, I recognized that things were not the same anymore. Our regular server was replaced by a robot!
I understand why the owner came up with this novelty employee. This robot didn’t need to be put on the payroll and didn’t need to rest for a 15-minute break. The owner also didn’t have to worry about paying sick days, doing Covid testing, or paying vacation wages to Mr. Robot. Mr. Robot could also work nonstop, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Scary, isn’t it?
Things are rapidly becoming automated. When I worked at a call center, one of the staff members mused that one day our jobs would be replaced by an automatic system. That day has yet to arrive but perhaps in the future, call center automation may cause massive layoffs and unemployment.
I am not a technology expert but I can see why things are headed this way. As consumers, we rely on convenience and we want everything done for us. We have automatic washers and driers, which take any grueling domestic chores and make them simple. When I was a child, I would help my mother do the laundry, and after I helped her put the clothes through the wringer, we would allow the clothes to draw on the clothesline. It took time to do this and now people don’t think anything about doing the laundry as all the work is done for us, except for the folding. I am certain there is an invention for the folding of laundry already patented somewhere for sale on the Internet.
It’s cheaper for small and large businesses to use robots to do small and large tasks. As self-driving cars become more common, we may have a self-driving Uber car pick us up for work, and a self-driving bus takes us downtown for Christmas shopping.
Clearly, robots are smart and getting smarter. I asked Siri, the app on the iPhone to multiple 2 large numbers together, and I got the answer back in a few seconds. Siri also told me the destination in kilometers from Vancouver to Cuba in a few seconds.
As humans, we are far superior to robots because we have feelings, and we understand the nature of love. We can philosophize if we so choose. We can write poetry. We can write original dramas; we can dream.
Still, some people have made the radical decision to fall in love — with a robot. A Chinese artificial intelligence engineer, frustrated with the nagging of his family, build a robot and got married to it, in a union not officially recognized by the authorities.
There’s another oddball news about a Japanese man who ‘marries’ a virtual reality singing hologram in an extravagant Wedding ceremony. The groom’s mother refused an invitation to her only son’s wedding.
Have we gone too far with technology? I have never heard of humans reversing technology. The pace of society is so frightening, perhaps, it is time we went back to the ancients to get advice. I turned to the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle for words of wisdom.
“The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.”
~ Aristotle
I asked Siri a question, “Are humans smarter than robots?” Siri said, “One moment.” I never got an answer. Proof that humans are darn smarter, and we need to shut the dang thing down or use robots in moderation.
Hopefully, in the future, we won’t be locked out of our own homes by a robot.
To paraphrase the movie, 2001 A Space Odyssey, “Open the pod bay door, Mr. Robot! (“Hal” in the movie).”
That’s all today. Feel free to comment about artificial intelligence, or write about it yourself! Here’s a shoutout to:
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