If there is a single symbol of how retailing has changed over the years, it is the self-service checkout terminal. Fortunately, this innovation may be fading from the scene. Great Expectations… A Kroger grocery store in Deerfield Beach, Florida, is credited with the first use of such a device in July 1986. … Read more
In the quest for employment, the digital job market is the great leveler. Automated resume submissions flood into the human resource departments in torrents. No one stands out. The process is further complicated by resumes now written by non-human AI tools that enhance and might even distort reality. In their turn, managers … Read more
Imagine dining at a restaurant. The waiter delivers his food. The patron gets up for a moment to thank the cook. Meanwhile, another person rushes over, occupies the table, and refuses to leave. The patron registers shock and then anger. However, the occupier, enjoying the food, claims it is his human right. … Read more
Shoppers have long been told of the advantages of self-checkout. It is supposed to help them avoid lines and make purchasing faster and more convenient. For decades, retailers have installed scanning machines everywhere to get everyone on board with automation. Now, retailers are feeling the backlash of consumers who have had enough … Read more
The book, The Revolt Against Humanity: Imagining a Future Without Us, does not make a very good first impression. One reason is that the 2023 work is an awfully small book to deal with such a monumental subject as human extinction. The elimination of humanity should merit something more than a mere … Read more
Before modernity, Christianity guided individuals to live according to human nature and the moral law established by the Creator. This system allowed families and societies to prosper and helped people in their quest for sanctification and the final destination of heaven. The eighteenth-century Enlightenment threw everything into darkness. People claimed they could … Read more
The age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is coming. The oracles of this future are warning of a major paradigm shift. Usually, such messages can be taken with a grain of salt as they often touch on science fiction. However, the recent book, The Age of AI and Our Human Future, is different. … Read more
In Paris, a pizzeria without a pizza chef has opened. There is not even a cashier or a waiter. Instead, there is a robot. Everything is automated. The reviews are enthusiastic: “Fantastic!”, “Incredible!”. They sound just like the comments of a group of children seeing an amazing new sophisticated toy. In reality, … Read more
As more things move online, I notice that relationships are becoming increasingly impersonal. We don’t realize what we are doing in our rush to communicate with others. We don’t see how these virtual encounters can often be rude and brusque. Offended parties feel helpless to respond. I have often felt this way … Read more
The classic philosophical definition of a person is “an individual substance of a rational nature.” A person possesses a center point of being, autonomy and self-sufficiency, which irrational beings do not have. To be a person, one must have a nature capable of self-consciousness, self-possession and self-control. Definitions like this have long … Read more