Robots are no substitute for human touch
SELF-CHECKOUTS aren’t my favourite thing – so the news that a new robotic system has been introduced in Japanese supermarkets fills me with dismay.
If you do away with people and replace them with machines it begs the question: what jobs will be left?
What about young people who want to earn some dosh at nights or weekends doing shifts at their local supermarket?
And how do busy young mums with toddlers cope without friendly assistant to help them pack their bags while their child is having a hissy fit because you won’t let them have the sugar-laden sweets so cunningly on display?
Will the robot be much use in such a stressy situation? I think not.
And lonely pensioners whorelyonabitofchat with the cheery assistant behind the till will be deprived of what may be the only personal contact in their day.
Forget the robots, I say. Keep humans working in supermarkets – for the sake of all of us.