Humanity on way out

Columnist Sutapa Amornvivat writes, “Who is afraid of automation and robots?” I am. And you should be too. Remember the days when you’d call a company’s landline phone and get a live operator asking, “This is X company. How may I direct your call?”

Today you are answered by a menu, a choice of one to nine, which subdivides further and further, until you end up frustrated and hang up in disgust. KBANK is just one of the offenders.

We should indeed be afraid of robots and automation, as they are replacing people. Soon robots will be operating robots, while live people slink on overpasses with cups asking for handouts.

And parents telling their kids to deal with it are worse. We already have a zombified, animated population of those 18 and under, who are incapable of verbal, face-to-face communication, of socialisation, of thinking for themselves, of being able to calculate simple sums without a device in hand.

There used to be satisfaction in wishing someone a good morning, and receiving a cheery smile and a reply.

Now it’s, “Shhh-don’t bother me. I’m texting my friend.” Khun Sutapa, spare us the automation.

How about a return to those old-fashioned human basic values instead. Human evolution one day may see people with 5kg, very large heads, tiny bodies, legs incapable of most activity, sitting on specially built platforms … texting. JACK GILEAD