This isn't exactly a surprise is it:
Quote:
Automated checkout machines put off about a quarter of older people from going shopping, a survey from a housing charity for the elderly suggests.
They can find the automated checkouts "intimidating" and "unfriendly," according to the charity, Anchor.
Without someone to talk to at the tills, shopping can be a "miserable experience," a spokesman said.
The British Retail Consortium said it was important for shops to be welcome destinations for all of the community.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42052234
Somewhere in amongst all the profit/loss calculations surely the value to people of dealing with other people needs to be taken into account and maybe government needs to create incentives on order to ensure this. I never use self service tills but that choice is slowly being taken away. Do we really want to be slowly reduced to dealing with machines and robots in almost every area of our lives?
I was listening to an expert on AI the other day being interviewed on Radio 4. She made the point that the days when machines only took away jobs from the lower paid and manual workers are long gone. Even over paid BBC radio presenters aren't safe...