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Ten years ago it might have seemed far-fetched that a customer could order food in a restaurant without speaking to anyone. But it's a reality now as service employers across the country—including Chili's, Chevys Fresh Mex and California Pizza Kitchen—introduce tabletop ordering devices. A few clicks on an iPad-like device and the food is on its way. Technology has made these changes possible, but that's not what's driving their implementation. Steady federal and state increases to the minimum wage have forced employers in retail and service industries to rely on technology as the government makes entry-level labor more expensive. Now...

Thanks to lightning-speed advances in hi-tech, humanity (or part of it) is close to achieving its dream of prosperity without toil. We are already starting glimpse the awful consequences. As Voltaire said, work is the triple tonic for needs, vice, and boredom. A Davos vote split 51:49 on whether "technological innovation" will keep displacing jobs – and at an accelerating rate – leaving us with a deformed world where hundreds of millions are left on the unemployment scrap-heap (205m so far). The waters have been so muddied by the global financial crisis – and the 1930s response to it in...

AVT, Inc. (OTC Markets: AVTC) (www.autoretail.com), a leader in custom vending machines, business opportunities, and kiosks, commented today on a research report that predicted over 35,000 Micromarket locations within the decade. The study, written by noted market research company Bachtelle and Associates, and published in Vending Times Magazine, said that this is a "new channel" and is "driving more sales, pleasing customers and exciting our industry." "We predict that there will be 13,000 Micromarkets on location by 2015, and 35,000 within a decade," Brad Bachtelle stated. AVT is a leader in Micromarket design and development. From their unique UShop systems,...

Productivity. Every employer loves it, and every employee is fascinated by it, especially if it comes in cute colors, a retina screen, and weighs under a pound... at least until such time as "productivity" results in the loss of the employee's job, which in turn makes the employer love it even more as it results in even higher profits, even if it means one more pink slip and a 91 million people outside the labor force. With a labor force already in turmoil as millions drop out every year never to be heard from again, made obscolete by the...

After you heard President Obama’s call for a hike in the minimum wage, you probably wondered the same thing I did: Was Obama sent from the future by Skynet to prepare humanity for its ultimate dominion by robots? But just in case the question didn’t occur to you, let me explain. On Tuesday, the day before Obama called for an increase in the minimum wage, the restaurant chain Applebee’s announced that it will install iPad-like tablets at every table. Chili’s already made this move earlier this year. With these consoles customers will be able to order their meals and pay...

The authors of this study - two academics from Oxford - aren't saying that we will definitely lose 47% of current jobs to automation. They are saying its possible as artificial intelligence - AI - becomes reality. From Slate: In "The Future of Employment: How Susceptible Are Jobs to Computerisation?," Frey and Osborne estimate that 47 percent of U.S. jobs are "at risk" of being automated in the next 20 years. This does not mean that they necessarily will be automated (despite the way the study has been portrayed in some media outlets)--rather, the authors argue, it is plausible over...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)A new worker's revolution is rising in China and it doesn't involve humans. With soaring wages and an aging population, electronics factory managers say the day is approaching when robotic workers will replace people on the Chinese factory floor. A new wave of industrial robots is in development, ranging from high-end humanoid machines with vision, touch and even learning capabilities, to low-cost robots vying to undercut China's minimum wage....

Medieval doctors bled their patients with leeches. Far from improving their condition, it left them worse off. Raising the wages of fast-food workers to $15 an hour would produce similar results for those the proposal is intended to help. In America, minimum-wage workers are better paid than the average worker in Mexico. Why? It’s not because U.S. employers are more generous than their Mexican counterparts. Nor do Americans somehow deserve better pay. American minimum-wage earners make more because they produce more. Better education and greater capital investment make American workers more productive, raising their earnings. Competition forces businesses to pay...

If Seattle fast workers demanding a big raise in the minimum wage get their way, they'll soon be replaced by robots says KIRO Radio's John Curley, who points to growing automation as a warning to those who want $15 an hour or more to flip burgers. A group of local fast food workers recently staged a one-day walkout and are calling on the Seattle City Council to increase the minimum wage from $9.19 per hour - the highest in the country - to $15 an hour. "We're asking for $15 because in order to support one person in a one...

Old time freepers will know that I am a retired airline/military pilot of 40 years experience. Guys like us stay in touch and swap experiences. It is how we learned as youngsters and how we stayed alive into retirement. This revelation is nothing new to those of us who have been around the pattern a few times. Nothing new at all. Read it and make your own decision.

Robotic automation has long been the domain of manufacturing, but of late, service robots have made an often entertaining and sometimes gimmicky leap to restaurants in China, Taiwan, Japan, and increasingly the US. Please accept the following video ode to Singularity Hub’s favorite restaurant robots of the past few years. Noodle bot: Knife-brandishing chopper of noodles, you terrify and inspire us in equal parts. You slice noodles with grim efficiency, and for that we are grateful. (VIDEO AT LINK) Sushi bot: Although the high art of sushi-making may best be suited for human hands, we hold your pace of 3,600...

OPINION Updated May 3, 2012, 7:41 p.m. ET 'Press 9 for More Options' Companies claim automated phone-answering systems save them millions. I have my doubts. By STEPHEN MOORE One of the deep mysteries of modern life is why, in a nation with some 14 million unemployed people, it has become nearly impossible to call a store, a business or a government agency and speak to a live human being. I'm not a Luddite; I don't rage against the machine; and I've always argued that the digital age is making life better in almost every way. But there are some things...

A jail in the eastern city of Pohang plans to run a month-long trial with three of the automatons in March. The machines will monitor inmates for abnormal behaviour. Researchers say they will help reduce the workload for other guards. South Korea aims to be a world leaders in robotics. Business leaders believe the field has the potential to become a major export industry. The three 5ft-high (1.5m) robots involved in the prison trial have been developed by the Asian Forum for Corrections, a South Korean group of researchers who specialise in criminality and prison policies. It said the robots...

A debate on the future of the American economy and the role of intelligent computers and robots. Will rapid technological innovations aid American workers, or will it render large numbers of American workers obsolete?

Video of a robot sky rat ... {kinda cool}

I’m not sure how to square this with this. Automation is bad for unemployment, except when it’s good for unemployment? Or full automation is bad, but partial automation is okay? Either way, it’s nice to see him talking up the job-creating benefits of technology. I think he should run with it. Take over the ATM manufacturing industry, then massively expand it as part of a new jobs program. Coming soon: A cash machine every 100 feet, coast to coast. Of course, there’s been a real debate about where to invest and where to cut, and I’m committed to working with...

<p>President Obama explained to NBC News that the reason companies aren't hiring are not because of his policies, it's because the economy is so automated.</p>

The Offshoring of America's Top Jobs Many of America's top jobs are moving offshore. Which jobs are most likely to be hit by "offshoring" and what can you do to protect and safeguard your career?Jobs that are most likely to be moved offshore have these Characteristics: Work is highly repetitive (accounting) Work is predictable and well defined (customer service) Can be broken down into small manageable projects (software development) Can be turned into a routine (Tele-marketing) Proximity to the end customer is not important (phone based tech support of consumer products) End customer has already moved offshore (semiconductor sales) Jobs...

Immigration reform is the issue that won't go away. After a flurry of activity in Washington, D.C. and massive protests from coast-to-coast, Congress has decided to table the issue until after the midterm elections in November. Meanwhile, the country's agricultural industry is suffering substantial losses due to a lack of seasonal workers.

First it was the typewriter, then the teleprinter. Now a US news service has found a way to replace human beings in the newsroom and is instead using computers to write some of its stories. Thomson Financial, the business information group, has been using computers to generate some stories since March and is so pleased with the results that it plans to expand the practice. The computers work so fast that an earnings story can be released within 0.3 seconds of the company making results public. By using previous results in ThomsonÂ’s database, the computer stories say whether a company...