Issue Automation crosses into physical service work once machines undercut wages

Summary

This issue concerns automation reaching physical service jobs as robots become cheaper than paying people. Robot waiters can already be bought for about US$10,000 or rented for US$750 a month, and one bathroom-cleaning robot works 40 hours a week for US$1000 a month, equivalent to $5.68 an hour and below the US federal minimum wage. As robots grow more capable and cheaper to build, more firms may decide a machine costs less than an employee. Routine, repetitive work with little human contact, such as janitorial jobs, looks most exposed, while service sectors that once resisted automation may see more robots. Roles where a positive social experience matters, such as hotel reception, are more likely to be supported by robots than replaced.