VIEWPOINT | Who's gonna fill their boots?

Guest column by Chris Larson

Artificial Intelligence can’t fix your toilet.

Yet.

This probably won’t change anytime soon, and this is a good thing for humans. I’m not sure many people would say that the rapid rise of self-service kiosks and self-checkouts have made trips to the grocery store more convenient or enjoyable. I don’t mind pumping my own gas, but being suddenly responsible for accurately checking my entire shopping cart makes me feel like a bumbling new hire on my first day on the job.

This is another negative effect wrought by the insanity of the Covid years. People scared of other humans. Customers being hostile to retail workers. Workers getting comfortable calling in “sick” with  the slightest cold symptom. Retail workers demanding higher wages.

And while I support anyone trying to make an honest living, particularly when it comes to serving others, the fact is that paying $15 and hour to fill a low-skill, no-experience minimal-responsibility position in a low margin fast food industry means that those positions are now prime targets for robot replacement. Same goes for nearly every retail clerk position in America.

So, what's a young wannabe worker to do?