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Comment and Technology

Will robots take my job? No, but they will break it into tiny bits

This changes everything | Robots will take our jobs in name only. They are actually fragmenting them in a way that undermines our ability to find full-time work, warns Annalee Newitz

By Annalee Newitz

26 June 2019

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

The food delivery Kiwibot appears to be automated, but is actually operated by remote workers being paid $2 an hour

Kiwibot

A FEW weeks ago, I almost killed a robot on the street. Distracted by my phone, I didn’t notice the small, wheeled entity about the size and shape of a rice cooker blocking my path. But then it slammed into my shin – or maybe I kicked it. When it looked up at me with digital cartoon eyes in the video screen of its face, I decided it was in more danger than I was. I could easily have…

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