INSIDE
october 2016 BCBusiness 89
What will be the spark of the Great Robot
Rebellion that will end the era of human rule
on our planet? Here's a theory: the robots
will become disgruntled with minimum
wage. That's the job level they are poised to
•ood, taking over more and more tasks in
the service industry. And if the robots don't
end up happy about it, well, the prospect
doesn't seem likely to please the current
•esh-based workforce either.
Take that most emblematic of minimum
wage positions, •ipping—and wrapping—
burgers. A Silicon Valley startup called
Momentum Machines has demonstrated a
robot that can fry a patty, dress it, slap it on
a bun and wrap it, all without including a
single stray teenage hair. "Our device isn't
meant to make employees more e„cient,"
co-founder Alexandros Vardakostas told the
website Xconomy.com. "It's meant to com-
pletely obviate them."
Data entry, delivery, hotel clerks and ship-
ping jobs are among the most vulnerable to
automation, professor Moshe Vardi of Rice
University told the American Association
for the Advancement of Science. Meanwhile
self-driving vehicles are casting a shadow on
the future of driving jobs. Will a robot enemy
cause warring taxi and Uber drivers to
unite against a common foe? Will truck
drivers stand grimly behind 18-wheeler
blockades, awaiting an implacable army
Man
Versus
Machine
IllustratIon: Kagan Mcleod
Are there limits
to workplace
automation? Not in
the way you might
expect
by Steve Burgess
Time for some "ideation" ... From beer sport to calorie-burner ... Taco truck empire expands ... + more
O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6
"I'm doing what was not too
long ago considered inconceivable
in the Valley of the Sun—
I'm going car-free" –p.95
Off lıne
E V E R Y B O D Y ' S TA L K I N '
WATERCOOLER
