Every so often, a development will come around and change the world for better or worse. The last huge change to the workforce was the Industrial Revolution, leading to the mechanisation of factories. We now tentatively teeter on the edge of an AI robotics switch-up in the workforce. As Walmart introduced robot security guards, it’s time to start paying more attention.
As time goes on, we are going to be seeing more AI-driven robotics in various walks of life. With the Industrial Revolution, machines replaced workers. But the problem was that they are mindless, programmed only to follow a set process. They can’t adapt, learn, or respond to outside stimuli.
With the introduction of AI, those machines can now do all of these things. This broadens what the machines can now do in the collective workforce. Essentially, the machines of the factory line have been upgraded to have a modicum of intelligence. Certainly enough to work as a robot Walmart security guard anyway.
Being a mall cop has always been the job of the power-hungry and dim-witted. It was only a matter of time before the two brain cells they rub together get replaced by a computer. Honestly, they probably could have done it with a Tamagotchi.
The Anti-Human Approach Of Walmart Security Guard Robots
The video captured on TikTok shows a robot security guard rolling through a Walmart parking lot. The 5-foot or so tall wheeled robot is patrolling. The woman filming tries to talk to it, but, just like a real security guard, its vocabulary is very stunted.
@goldpinemusic Robot 🤖 Security at @Walmart 🫣 #foryoupage #robot #security #fyp #walmart ♬ original sound – Goldpinemusic
The purpose of the robot security employed by Walmart is for surveillance. They are designed to watch people as they go about their days, shopping and parking. This disgustingly invasive action taken by the grocery store is indicative of the anti-human approach companies are taking with their advances in technology.
The robot, which creeps around, watching people as they go about their day, is not just an invasion of privacy. It is against everything we understand as civilised humans. By constantly filming and surveying, Walmart is doing away with the guilty until proven innocent pillar of society.
You’re presumed to be guilty, and the little robot is the equivalent of someone following you around with a camera. But, you know, a quick squirt of hairspray on the lenses will put an end to that. Just saying.