automation

The Chinese tech and e-commerce giant Alibaba is rolling out delivery robots to replace error-prone, smoke-break-taking human couriers.

Hustle Culture

Seems a little rude!

Alibaba Says Delivery Robots Are Great Because They Don’t Smoke on the Job

A new mod for "The Witcher 3" uses AI to churn out new lines in an actor's voice, raising serious questions about how automation will impact artists.

AI Actor

"Replacing actors with AI is not only a legal minefield but an utterly soulless choice."

Video Game Voice Actors Alarmed by New AI Voice Technology

House Calls

Devices

What happens when tech allows for "theoretically limitless distance" between doctor and patient?

New Tech Could Take Doctors Out of Hospitals Completely

McDonald's has been experimenting with using voice recognition instead of human employees to take orders at some of its drive-thrus.

Dial 0 For Operator

The CEO says workers are surprisingly eager to jump in and help the AI out.

McDonald’s Replaces Drive-Thru Human Workers With Siri-Like AI

Walmart thought building robots to track stores' inventories would make things easier, but the project ultirmately fell short.

Bye, Bots

An ambitious push to automate its stores fell flat.

Walmart Is Giving Up on Its Inventory Robots

Would having a robot draw your blood make the process easier? Thanks to engineers at Rutgers University that may soon be an option.

Nurse Ratchet 

This little bot wants your blood.

Engineers Built an AI-Powered Robot to Take Your Blood

Makr Shakr, the company behind a robot bartender called Toni, says it will offer monthly stipends to displaced workers for every robot it sells.

Severance Package

Makr Shakr says it'll give out a new monthly stipend for every robot it sells.

Robot Bartender Developer Wants to Pay the Humans It Replaces

Future studies researcher Roey Tzezana says workplace automation will mean the destruction of the middle class and the "end of the world as we know it."

Hollowing Out

"This figure is the end of the world for the average people."

Futurist Predicts “The End of the World as We Know It”

Four Japanese people agreed to give up their privacy and let cameras record their every move at home for a month for 200,000 yen, or $1,830.

Cost of Living

Cameras will record them everywhere but the bathroom for an entire month.

This Company Is Paying People $1,830 to Film Them Constantly

Switching to a four-day workweek boosted productivity by nearly 40 percent at Microsoft Japan, a sign that the change could benefit employers and employees.

Long Weekends

It also cut down on the company's environmental impact.

Microsoft Japan Tried a Four-Day Workweek. Productivity Spiked.

The AI systems now used to grade essays on standardized tests in 21 states are deeply flawed, according to a new Motherboard investigation.

Down Grade

And the systems are doing a terrible job.

21 States Are Using AI to Grade Essays on Standardized Tests

A small survey shows that most Chinese workers would prefer to be managed by an impartial AI algorithm than a human, in a positive twist on job automation.