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Consumer preferences, reduced technology costs and government policies that increase labor costs are driving a trend toward automation in the restaurant business. If you make something more convenient and less expensive, it tends to catch on. As recently as the 1960s, gas-station employees would rush to fill your car’s tank, wash the windows, check the oil and put air in the tires. Telephone operators made your long-distance calls and bank tellers cashed your checks. Those jobs now are either gone or greatly diminished. Today, we reduce jobs whenever we shop on Amazon instead of our local retail outlet, use an...

A recent study by the Oxford Martin School and Citi, with OECD data from the World Bank, found that an average of 57 percent of workers around the world are at risk of being replaced by automation. The study's authors do recognize, however, that not all of these jobs will be automated. They explain that "a job is considered to be 'exposed to automation' or 'automatable' if the tasks it entails allows the work to be performed by a computer, even if a job is not actually automated." The jobs in question are mainly low-skilled positions, including jobs in transportation...

Eatsa, the mostly automated healthy, fast food bowl shop based in San Francisco, has inspired the CEO of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s to rethink the traditional workforce—by replacing all humans with robots. ...CEO Andy Puzder told Business Insider. "We could have a restaurant that's focused on all-natural products and is much like an Eatsa, where you order on a kiosk, you pay with a credit or debit card, your order pops up, and you never see a person." ... The CEO acknowledges that it may be some time before Carl’s Jr is people-free as it would take a pretty sophisticated...

Robots have changed our lives in many ways, from advancing our healthcare and automating our factory lines, to taking on dangerous tasks and even taking our place in warfare. Now Domino's have developed possibly the greatest use for robots yet - safe and secure pizza delivery in what the company claims is a world first.

The robots are called microTugs and they’re the creations of scientists at Stanford University’s Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory who have been working for some time on tiny-yet-strong robots. In 2015, they unveiled one weighing less than half an ounce that can pull up to 52 pounds. Another one weighing 9 grams uses its super-strength plus gecko-like sticky feet to pull a 2-pound object up a wall. ... The microTugs use the adhesive foot-power of the gecko robots, whose feet have minute rubber spikes that grip firmly by bending when pressure is applied, thus increasing their surface area and stickiness....

Artificial intelligence is poised to automate lots of service jobs. The White House has estimated there's an 83% chance that someone making less than $20 a hour will eventually lose their job to a computer. That means gigs like customer-service rep could soon be extinct. But it's not just low-paying positions that will get replaced. AI also could cause high-earning (like top 5% of American salaries) jobs to disappear. Fast. That's the theme of New York Times reporter Nathaniel Popper's new feature, "The Robots Are Coming for Wall Street." The piece is framed around Daniel Nadler, the founder of Kensho,...

Are Robots are Coming of Age? “New robot shows off human-like qualities” says the headline. The media think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread. My dearest is excited too: finally, she will no longer have to remind me of my chores, that the (yet to be acquired super-duper) robot with its well-programmed memory and a mind of its own will perform without being asked—and even without any snarky comments on the side. And here comes the latest news: “Artificial intelligence, human brain to merge in the 2030s, says futurist Kurzweil.” I’m not sure how that’s supposed to work but...

Demagoguery as Unskilled Labor By Richard Fernandez February 23, 2016 Who's Obsolete? Brilliance in thrall to stupidity The importance of information to modern civilization was highlighted by a government report suggesting low wage jobs were doomed. "It's intuitive that automation will take low-wage jobs ... the White House, in its annual economic report of the president, has broken down just how much that is so." It essentially predicts that a person with a low wage job will be replaced by a robot. There's an 83% chance that automation will take a job with an hourly wage below $20, a 31%...

"Robots can't deal with the degree of individualization and the many variants that we have today," said the company's head of production Markus Schaefer. "We're saving money and safeguarding our future by employing more people." The change comes at a time when a number of companies are replacing people with robotic devices. International Federation of Robotics (IFR) released a survey today stating that 1.3 million of the industrial robots will be in use by 2018. In fact, the number of those machines rose 43 percent in a year between 2013 and 2014. However, as Mercedes continues to expand the options...

Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders thinks he can wave a magic government wand, impose lots of new taxes and government programs and make the world grand. Reality has another notion. Take the minimum wage. Bernie says he'll raise it to $15 an hour, more than doubling it. If I worked at a fast-food restaurant for minimum wage, Bernie would get my vote. But the problem is, I'd likely never see $15 an hour as a fast-food employee because my entry-level job might be taken over by a robot. According to the Brisbane Times, robots are expected to replace half of...

Killer robots that can execute without human intervention will become a reality within years unless there is a global agreement to ban them, warns a leading scientist. Wendell Wallach, an ethicist at Yale University, will today call on the US government to outlaw such machines on the basis they violate international humanitarian law. Wallach also warns that technology has become so advanced that a robot capable of killing humans on its own volition will soon become a possibility - much like the rogue machines seen in Arnold Schwarzenegger's hit film, The Terminator.

In 2017, the Japanese company Spread will open the world's first fully automated agricultural plant, with robots working the whole process: from seed to harvest. Spread, headquartered in Kyoto, explained that this plant will start operating regularly by mid-2017. Mechanization will allow it, among other things, to produce 30,000 heads of lettuce a day, as noted on their website. This figure falls short of the firm's expectations, as its goal is to produce half a million heads of lettuce a day within five years. Furthermore, the new automation technologies will reduce labour costs by 50% and energy use by 30%...

We are at the threshold of a society deeply impacted by industrialized robots and AI systems. In a few years, driverless cars may become quite common in America, cutting into the business of human drivers, as with Uber or any Check Cab. Long distance Truck Drivers may be replaced by driverless trucks that never get tired and rarely become confused. Many wealthy people are already obtaining financial planning advice from robotized systems. Our children may be taught by instructional robots that memorize the child's name, face and study habits. My question is where will all these people find work? Will...

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives Purchasing Mini Caliber Robot 10--Mini-Caliber Robot Solicitation Number: DJA-15-ANCE-PR-1110 Agency: Department of Justice Office: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Location: Administrative Programs Division (APD) This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice.The solicitation number is DJA-15-ANCE-PR-1110 and is issued as an invitation for bids (IFB), unless otherwise indicated herein.The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular 2005-84. The associated North American Industrial Classification System...

Were Russian Combat Robots Used in Syria? January 15, 2016 By Aric Toler According to Sputnik and multiple Russian-language blogs, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) recently deployed ten Russian combat robots in a battle in the Latakia province, leading to “about 70” dead rebel fighters and no dead SAA soldiers in fighting. Per the reports, these ten robots included six “Platform-M” systems and four “Argo” robots, which were controlled from a Russian command post. This news — if true — would warrant significant coverage, as it would mark the first successful use of combat robots in actual warfare, bringing about...

Kathleen Richardson is worried about sex robots. Now a robot ethics researcher at De Montfort University, she's spent the last 15 years looking at robots "designed to take on intimate roles, that were once thought off-limits to machines—companions, friends, lovers." While the concept of a robo-girlfriend may seem farfetched, there is the prediction that most of us—yes, you read that right—will be having sex with robots by the year 2050. And although sex robots are nowhere near mainstream, companies like True Companion and RealDoll have already developed strikingly realistic models (if you have any doubt about how realistic, look at...

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Should computers decide who gets a job? That’s a question recently asked by Government Executive Magazine which looked at a study of hiring practices and how much hiring recommendations generated by standardized testing differed from managers who “went with their gut” in terms of eventual employee performance and retention. The results were, at least as I read it, a bit muddled.First of all, the test subjects they looked at were all applicants for low skill service jobs. (Such as you’d find for new hires at call centers or data entry firms.) They were all given standardized tests and those results...

Today, U.S. fast-food workers will strike across 270 cities in a protest for higher wages and union rights that they hope will catch the attention of candidates in 2016 elections, organizers said. The walkouts will be followed by protests in 500 cities by low-wage workers in such sectors as fast food and home and child care, a statement by organizers of the Fight for $15 campaign said on Monday. The protests and strikes are aimed at gaining candidates’ support heading into the 2016 election for a minimum wage of $15 an hour and union rights, it said. The strikes...

Should we be having sex with robots? It's a question that has sparked fierce debate among moralists and the robotics industry. And it turns out, they're all split on what role machines should play in future relationships.