For decades now there has been an increase of robots doing jobs that workers use to perform….from auto workers to mail workers to researchers……and in all that time there has been a debate on whether this is good or bad for society. (And that is a post for another day)
The newest area of confrontation is hospitality and in Las Vegas…..
The tourism-heavy economy is Las Vegas has left many workers vulnerable to being replaced by robots, and the city should work to diversify its economy to make sure humans still have jobs, analysts say. It’s already common to see robots doing jobs including bartending at establishments like the Tipsy Robot in Planet Hollywood, and many hotel check-in desks have been replaced by kiosks, NPR reports. With the use of artificial intelligence rising, studies have shown that as many as two-thirds of jobs in the city could be automated by 2025. Indeed, a July report from the Chamber of Commerce ranked Las Vegas as the No. 1 city when it comes to potential job losses due to AI.
John Restrepo at RCG Economics in Las Vegas says that to save money, the resort industry will replace humans wherever it is possible to do so without affecting “productivity, profits or the customer experience.” The city, he says, needs to move away from hospitality toward jobs “that are more highly skilled, that are not easily replaced by AI.” But hospitality workers aren’t giving up their jobs without a fight. Ted Pappageorge, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, says the union plans to make sure protections against AI replacing jobs will be in the new contract. The union represents around 60,000 hospitality and service workers.
Pappageorge tells NPR that there was a “huge fight about tech” while negotiating the last contract and he expects the same this time around. “How do our folks make sure that the jobs that remain, that we can work them? And that we’re not thrown out like an old shoe? We’re not going to stand for that,” he says. Optimists include Sabrina Bergman, who assists the robots at the Tipsy Robot. She says machines will never fully replace the human touch in customer service roles
As a past labor organizer I hate to see robots replace workers that are only trying to provide for their families.
What’s next? Will robots eventually replace our Congresses? (Not a bad idea maybe then we could get some action out of the Congress)
Thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
The advantage to robotic labor is that it is fast, it is accurate, it does not stand around scratching its ass complaining that “This damned company don’t care about us so I am not going to do any more than I have to–” Some of the scum that works at jobs (when the mood to work strikes them) need to be replaced, (Robots do not contribute to the overhead-drain caused by chronic absenteeism either.
Not all workers are lazy to blame all for the act of some is very short sighted. chuq
I have been neck deep in Union shit and I know whereof I speak–
I have been an organizer and I know where I come from….chuq
“Have Been.” That is interesting that you would say that. In 1976, for example, unions were nowhere near what they were at the beginning and had begun to fall into the worst union corruption in the history of the nation… when I got fired, the much loved UAW didn’t even file a grievance. The union lawyer demanded Three Thousand Dollars up front from me when I was totally bankrupt. Do not tell me about unions.
Do not judge all unions because of your bad experience…..chuq
I do not intend to judge them anymore and I hope they all stay the hell away from me.
Member of AARP? chuq
Agree completely with John. Humans have had to adapt to evolving technology and its impact on the workplace, since technology became a thing. This isn’t anything new, though it has accelerated. We’re I a business owner, I would also lean towards automation where it made financial and logistical sense. I’d be running a business, not a charity.
If automation saves money from having to pay workers why is everything expensive….oh wait those operating costs/….not buying it. chuq
But are the perceived expensive prices connected to a decrease in worker salaries, or are there other factors at play; such as Covid recovery, rising fuel/transport costs. Don’t forget also, that just because some workers may be replaced by automation, that said automation doesn’t come with logistical and training costs, which won’t yield a business any significant savings even in the first year.
Worker displacement and dependence of technology are my big two….yes I am old but I see way too many depending on ‘tech’ for everything….not a good idea. I guess I look at social problems not the profit margin…I understand the desire for profit but at what cost…..I would probably be better at this if I were an economist. chuq
I have the same anxiety about overwhelming dependence on digital & electronics……but from the catastrophe standpoint. All of our service related support is held together by a metaphorical fishing line.
Fragile it is….chuq
Why are things so expensive? I will tell you why things are so expensive: First of all, they are expensive because fools pay the price and rarely complain. Business owners see that and they know that so they go to prices they believe the market will bear. Secondly, things are so expensive because of the Biden administrations obsession with raising interest rates. Thirdly, things are so expensive because people do not understand or do not have the balls to boycott greed mongers. Fourthly, things are so expensive because the government doesn’t have the balls to reinvent the old Office of Price Administration. Things are always going to be expensive as long as there are hordes of fools willing to take it up their a**es!
That explains it well….FOOLS! chuq