Dark Factory

26 Replies

Too often man becomes clever instead of becoming wise, he becomes inventive but not thoughtful–and sometimes…he can create himself right out of existence.—Rod Serling, The Twilight Zone (closing of “The Brain Center at Whipple’s”)

 

What are we celebrating you ask? I am celebrating my crowning achievement, the full automation of my company. It has taken longer than I anticipated because of a few unforeseen glitches, but now it is done. We can produce all of our products and run the entire business with machines. I no longer have to be concerned about minimum wage, 8 hour work days, sick time, health insurance, or occupational safety. I even save on the electricity needed to keep the lights on. After all, the machines don’t need lights. They can work in the dark.

 

Post inspired by  China is Building a Model Army of Robot Workers by Will Knight, and The Working Class Meltdown by Rick Lowry.

“Approximately 100 million people are employed in manufacturing in China” (Will Knight). The article asks what will happen when they are replaced by robots. I ask what happens to people when they are displaced and unable to find adequate employment again?

This my post for  Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers hosted by Priceless Joy

 

26 thoughts on “Dark Factory”

      1. Bee Halton

        Not been aware of it yet besides the self-service check outs where I work. But most ppl still use those with “proper” staff on

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Deborah Drucker Post author

        I don’t think replacing people in stores with robots is going to be very popular. Even though I have not always appreciated human salespersons, I am now starting to look at it differently. I definitely like humans in stores better than robots. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  4. mandibelle16

    This is very good. The quote explains the situation very well. It seems this man has forgotten people need jobs, and money to buy food, and money to get the products he is selling. He doesn’t have to worry but he seems to have even “creates himself right out of existence” as the quote says. Great job. Very thoughtful.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. cleemckenzie

    I’ve finally mastered the self-checkout machine at a local grocery store, but I never get a smile or a, “How’s your day?” from the darned thing. I wonder how many checkers those machines replace?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓
    1. Deborah Drucker Post author

      Even if we got a “how is your day?” from a machine, it would not be the same. I am happy that we still have live human checkers in my local markets, although we have the machines as well. I do think about the human checkers though, how they may feel vulnerable about their job security. 😦

      Liked by 1 person

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