I saw something recently about using robotics to automate care for elderly people (luckily it got a lot of pushback in the forum I saw it discussed).
I don't know if it's a product of the soulless welfare state, where we've long forgotten why it's important to have things like universal education and elder care, and just have bureaucrats that want to go through the motions and put in as little as possible. But it's obscene in my view to think that we can or should automate these personal interactions in the name of efficiency. Why not just stop doing them if we care so little about them that we can't be bothered to expend actual effort?
From my perspective, a lot of "innovation", especially in the last few decades, is about removing the "friction" of dealing with a person. (and ignoring any "friction" that comes from technical difficulties, unless it reaches critical mass and/or social media virality.)
I don't know if it's a product of the soulless welfare state, where we've long forgotten why it's important to have things like universal education and elder care, and just have bureaucrats that want to go through the motions and put in as little as possible. But it's obscene in my view to think that we can or should automate these personal interactions in the name of efficiency. Why not just stop doing them if we care so little about them that we can't be bothered to expend actual effort?