Robot waiters in Kenya create buzz, and concerns about what it means for human labor.

Vodulas , 4 hours ago

Gods, I wish we lived in the kind of society where when I see something like robot servers I could simply say, “That is cool.” Unfortunately thanks to the capitalist hellscape we are in, my reaction is “How are they going to exploit people to make this work.” Like how the Amazon grab and go grocery stores turned out to be just people being paid super low wages

webghost0101 , 2 hours ago

This is a side effect of too much doomscrolling.

Start of the article shows the genuine reaction is there: “Children giggle as young people flash their smartphones to film robots carrying plates of freshly prepared meals on their inbuilt trays to deliver to diners in a busy eatery in Kenya’s capital.”

I cant say I disagree though, this is putting pressure on some of the twisted dynamics we live by indeed but i think your question doesn’t really work, exploiting people isnt the point, generating value with no regard of other life is and robotics make good slaves. The real issue is how will humans survive in an economy where there labor can no longer be used to obtain a share of the earth-pie.

What we can do is be vocal about normalizing universal basic income which has proven to work. This way we can still be hyped about the technology. Its going to be a matter of either we do get there or we wont live to tell the difference.

GBU_28 , 4 hours ago

Aside from global concerns about labor displacement, somewhere like Kenya seems silly for robot staff usage in 2024

You would expect to see this in places where labor is incredibly expensive, such that the cost of running robots (even if they are actually useful) competitively beats the cost of human labor