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What do the people who fight these developments expect? Forcing Freshii to employ Canadian workers? I don't see how this is different to any other form of remot
by axg11 4y ago
What do the people who fight these developments expect? Forcing Freshii to employ Canadian workers? I don't see how this is different to any other form of remote work that employs out-of-country workers.
I'm not commenting on whether the customer experience is better or worse - that is an optimization that Freshii is making. Perhaps this technology allows them to serve better food from their kitchen, or perhaps it's a simple cost reduction to maximize profit. Consumers can vote with their wallets.
If your job is something that can be outsourced via video call then the writing is on the wall for the automation of that job. Today you're competing against a worker in Nicaragua, tomorrow you're competing against a generative machine learning algorithm. Instead of focusing on the employers making these efficiencies, we should be focusing on programmes that help up-skill the replaced workers.
- slater 4y ago> perhaps it's a simple cost reduction to maximize profit yeaaahh... perhaps? maybe? who can tell? it is a mystery.
- axg11 4y agoAre you under some illusion that Freshii, a publicly traded company, should have a different goal?
- slater 4y agoAre you under some illusion that this technology allows Freshii, a publicly traded company, to serve better food from their kitchen?
- scanny 4y agoGenuine Q: Is that their purpose as opposed to returning profits to shareholders ?
- slater 4y agoperhaps? maybe? who can tell? it is a mystery! //scnr But no, fairly obvious to me that it's not their purpose. This story just smacks of libertarian-brainworm-addled, late-stage capitalism. I know cynicism rarely helps, but I can't help but despise this MBA-run, super-short-term-profits-over-everything-else way of running businesses. Also might be that's why I don't run a business.
- cyanydeez 4y agoDepends entirely on their taxable status. You know, civil society isn't free.
- CPLX 4y agoYou use the word “should” here without making any effort to elaborate on your values and the judgment you are making. The answer to why people are fighting this is that they want to live in a society that places other values higher than squeezing every last cent of profit out of fast food workers. They believe we should not do that. You believe we should. Is the society that results from your vision more appealing than theirs?
- axg11 4y agoI sense that we ultimately want the same thing: higher quality of life for workers. Unfortunately for these workers, technology has devalued their role. It's untenable to force the company to continue to employ these people despite having a cheaper solution that serves their customer needs.
- wildrhythms 4y ago'Their role' is certainly one way to explain how someone has been relegated to doing the same work as a Canadian at a quarter of the pay.
- ilaksh 4y agoUp-skilling only goes so far. It is though one of the key things we should do. But within two or three decades many if not most high skill workers are likely to start feeling pressure from AI competition also.