Wait — Robots Work But I Get Paid
By KIM BELLARD
We’re not through the
COVID-19 pandemic. We’re probably not even near the end of the beginning
yet. That hasn’t stopped many pundits to start speculating about how our
society (and our healthcare system) are likely to be permanently changed as a result,
such as continued reliance on telecommuting and telemedicine.
OK, I’ll play too: I
believe we need to greatly expand the role of robots, and begin something that
resembles Universal Basic Income (UBI). They’re not the only changes that
may result, but they are two that should.
Robots
We’ve been seeing robots infiltrating the workforce for many decades, such as in manufacturing but also in many other industries.
Still, though, as our
economy pares down to “essential businesses” during the pandemic,
I’ve been alarmed at how many of the jobs remain done by humans. Not just
healthcare workers on the front lines but also all those people doing the
cleaning for essential businesses, all those people in the supply chain of food
and other vital materials, all those people making deliveries, all those first
responders, all those people all those people keeping the power on, the water
running, and the internet streaming, among others. And so on.
We’re already seeing reports of positive tests for COVID-19 in grocery workers, Amazon employees, meatpacking workers, not to mention first respon...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: COVID-19 Health Tech Kim Bellard robots Source Type: blogs
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