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this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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I don't use self-checkouts in retail stores, and I hate that some stores, like Shoppers, will try so hard to direct me to one when I'm in the queue for the cashier. I have put down merch and walked out of stores over this stance, and I no longer visit some stores (like Shoppers).
I'm not entirely against automated purchase systems. A completely touchless system would get a pass from me. I am against retailers forcing their customers to manually scan and check-out their products though, all while treating them as untrustworthy by dictating where they can place their scanned merch, weighing the merch as it's scanned, and checking the receipts after doing so.
Obviously, none of this addresses the question of whether fully-automated retail spaces are actually good for the working class as a whole.
My local No Frills has shut down their express lane and directs people to their newly built self checkout. It's basically the express lane except instead of the cashier scanning my items and taking the payment. I scan the items and give payment while a cashier hovers over my shoulder to make sure I'm not stealing anything
These don't end bullshit work though. They just mean that I am doing it myself, but still paying the same price for my groceries.
If I got a discount for doing the self checkout, since the company isn't paying a cashier, maybe it would be another story, but what they're actually doing is saving money on labour and passing those savings onto themselves.
I don't disagree with automation, which is why I mentioned checkout-free systems. Still, you must recognize that this technology could eliminate hundreds of thousands (millions?) of jobs within a very short period of time and would have significant ramifications on society.
Right, but only because we organize things in such a way that all of the gains from automation go to the owners only. If we restructured things so that enough of that value went to the workers that they still made enough money to live but worked less, no one would fight automation. We would universally see it as a blessing.
I agree. My comments made no arguments for or against automation. I only pointed out that the broader debate about its long-term impact on society is beyond the context of OP's post.
Many of those workers would no longer be employed by the company, as they would now be surplus to requirements.
Between AI and robotics, millions will likely be surplused within the decade. Where will they go? Will the 55-year old cashier retrain to work in robotics? Will we mandate companies to find alternative positions? Will we finally tax the rich appropriately? Will we expand welfare? These are the kinds of questions I was alluding to in my original comment.
That's where Universal Income becomes a thing. No one has to work, or so they tell us. Not sure how it's supposed to work, in all honesty
Beats me, but I'd like to see what society could do if 90% of the profit arising from automation had to be paid into income support programs.