From the sci-fi horror movies from the 80s of robots taking over the world, the use of AI has increasingly become a part of our everyday lives. We first see the rise of industrial robots in the 1950s as they were used for tasks too dangerous for the average human. As technology has grown and changed, we have been able to program artificial intelligence to do tasks that we normally would perform. We see countries such as Japan and China adopt a heavy integration of robots into service/customer-based industries. According to the BBC article “What the world can learn from Japan’s robots”, Japan has utilized robots in its workforce to combat its growing old population. We commonly see the hot debate that AI has been taking jobs away from thousands of everyday workers. From the use of self-checkouts at stores to robot servers, we wonder if there will be jobs for us in the future. Are you afraid AI will eventually leave you out of a job one day? I’ll leave that question to the readers to decide.
This robot mascot for Tokyo’s 2020 Summer Olympics was unveiled by Toyota last year. (Credit: Getty Images)
I believe AI is beneficial for everyone and it continues to blow our expectations of what it can achieve. Yes, I think it will take over low-skilled jobs, but it will force people in the workforce to gain unique skills. I recently ate at a Japanese restaurant in Duluth and was amazed when a robot came to my table to take the order. As someone who has worked in the service industry, the need for workers has always been at an all-time high. Reliable and hard-working individuals are hard to come by and robots will always be there. On the flip side, the con of social interaction will be at a loss if we fully transition to robots at restaurants. As a bartender, I know individuals go to restaurants to interact and talk to someone outside the house. I love going to my favorite restaurants and bars to have a small chat with the workers. It will be interesting to see how this will change in the future.
With the start of the COVID Pandemic, the world completely shut down, and when it was time for restaurants and other establishments to open there were no workers. Service industry workers were able to learn trades and go to school to find better jobs during the pandemic. According to the Boston Hospitality Review article “The Rise of Service Robots in the Hospitality Industry: Some Actionable Insights”, people were in favor of non-human workers as it could reduce transmission rates and allow for establishments to continue running smoothly. At an all-time low for workers, countries have been slowly transitioning their work base from humans to machines. For example, we see at a fast-food chain such as Mcdonald’s has transitioned to using self-service kiosks. The rise of digital innovation has changed the traditional ways of ordering with a cashier to physically tapping your order yourself. I would compare this to the Industrial Revolution as digital innovation is changing the ways of working, living, and fundamentally transforming our society.
McDonald’s Self Ordering Kiosk (Wall Street Journal, Kevin Hagen) WALL STREET JOURNAL
While politicians and others are warning us that we are on the verge of a job-stealing robot revolution, Japan is open arms to the use of robots in their everyday lives. They argue that the robots are already here, and we should be utilizing them rather than blaming them. We can see the appearance of robots in Japan’s restaurants, nursing homes, government offices, and just above we saw them at Tokyo’s Summer Olympics. Japan’s need for robots came out of necessity. With the declining population from low fertility and immigration, the use of robots has become a staple in their growing workforce. China is a country that has also invested some serious money in its robotic industry. According to the Forbes article “China’s Rise As A Robotic Nation”, China has dedicated its supply chain system to designing and manufacturing a large variety of robots in a short time for an affordable cost. As mentioned in the prior article, a manager explained that it was cheaper to buy a robot than to hire a human worker.
The rise of digital innovation is drastically shaping the way we live our everyday lives. The need for human knowledge and skill will never go away but jobs that don’t require such caliber will eventually go away forever. Recently, we have seen big tech companies lay off thousands of workers such as Google, Twitter, and Meta. These workers had college degrees and years of experience but overnight their job became nonexistent. If we don’t keep up with the changing times, we will be left behind. One of my favorite sayings is “If you don’t adapt, you die”. Although it specifically pertained to plants and animals, we see it today as individuals who refuse to adhere to these changes aren’t succeeding compared to their counterparts.
Sources:
China’s Rise As A Robotic Nation (forbes.com)
What the world can learn from Japan’s robots – BBC Worklife
The Impact of Robotics on the Service Industry (analyticsinsight.net)
Nice post Elaine. I believe if your job involves a narrow, well-defined set of responsibilities, your job could be at risk. However, if your job has a broader set of responsibilities or requires a bit of human touch (expressing sympathy or providing companionship), I don’t think your job is really at risk. Think of comparing a bricklayer to a nurse practitioner. Robots can lay bricks, but can they relate to sick patients by providing emotional support and ensuring families understand release instructions?
Nice post. I suspect that a more widespread use of “bots” will be in AI algorithms tailoring your service experience to your particular needs based on your data trail. It could track your preferences and make recommendations for other services based on similar users. Actual Robots are likely a little further out (but certainly coming!).
“If you dont adapt, you die” is s scary concept in our world right now. I came into MIS because I hoped to be learning about stuff that wouldn’t be replaced by automation which is somewhat still true today thank goodness. But also some parts of our industry is being computerized and I’m sure that eventually more will be taken over by AI along with the rest of the worlds jobs and professions. A great reminder to sty up to date and always on your toes when it comes to your professional live and livleyhood!
Amazing post and such an interesting topic! I am honestly scared that one day, a robot will take my job. But, hopefully that will happen later down in the future (or not at all). I like how you provided both sides of the topic: one stating that robots are taking jobs, but the other stating how it makes life easier and we should adapt (like Japan has). My parents always complain about all the self-service machines at Walmart, and they always state how they miss when the cashier would talk to them while bagging. I agree with them at times, but I love how fast I can get in and out of the store. In general, It will be interesting to see how far robots will disrupt the service and other industries.
Also, where was the restaurant you ate at in Duluth? I live near there and have always wanted to try a “robot” restaurant.
I love this post Elaine! This topic is very scary to me as someone who has worked many service industry jobs. With my experience in the field I do believe implementing robots is a super efficient way of running a service industry job. It is scary to think about a future where only robots are utilized. It reminds me of WALL-E, where the robots do everything for everyone and efficiency and conveinience were of utmost importance. While I understand the robot revolution would be beneficial, I believe it should be used as a crutch and not an end all be all. I beileve the service industry relies on human contact, however back end jobs could very well be automated.
I found your blog very interesting and engaging, Elaine! As someone who has also worked in the service industry, I can definitely see some application of this at my own restaurants. In my opinion, I don’t agree with this application of technology as part of a “job-stealing, robot revolution” as some people would consider it. I have eaten in restaurants in Las Vegas where the chefs longer have to wait for the server to bring the food to their respective tables. Instead, the robot can bring it out to the table and the chef can work more efficiently. Similarly, the servers can focus more on the customer’s experience because they consider the rovers as their “robo-assistants”.
Great blog Elaine! This topic is central to many decisions the restaurant industry faces today and ties to an issue that Anh brought up on zoom the other day. With a designated tech specialist on the board of directors, they face decisions about the future of their business and the industry as a whole. As you mentioned in the blog post, the decision to implement robots in a restaurant setting has positive and negative effects. It is important for the tech specialist to consider the implications of the use of robots and how it will affect the future of the company.
Hi Elaine! This blog post was on a really great topic, and it helped me see the debate about robots from many different perspectives. It’s interesting that you mentioned how Japan had to start using robots and the factors that related to the need for robots. I think in situations where restaurants are short-staffed, having some help from a robot would help out a lot. The question then would be would the robot get in the way and interfere with the staff? Recently, I’ve seen a lot more robots at restaurants on social media, so I wonder how much time it’ll be till they’re very common.