Essay & notes
Paying for people
Why pay for human work when a machine could do it faster? Coffee, beer, and personal care become examples of how the personal touch, and sometimes the inefficiency itself, can be part of what people value.
Automation is what has fueled our economic growth in the last 100+ years.
There is ever increasing progress on machine learning (or AI) and other scientific advances. So we can expect to have out-automated ourselves right? Human labour is no longer necessary.
For the past few years, I thought so too. Heck, I even love this YouTube video by CGP Grey:
But what if we think about human labour the other way around? That human labour is not expendable, but a mark of luxury.
We pay extra to have artisanal coffee brewed, versus getting a quick dose of caffeine at a nameless shop.
We buy beer that has a personal touch (and with names like ‘Jaapie’, ‘Gozer’, or ‘Bea’ (Kaapse Brouwers)).
And robots haven’t yet invaded the personal care arena.
We pay for people because the inefficiency is actually what we are looking for.
To inefficiency!
Floris
ps Read more here