Robot

Around two weeks after the birth of Adler, I went to apply for the birth certificate.

For those who are not yet parents, I could go alone without Adler or Vivian; the appointment was booked ahead on-line. As expected, I took the opportunity and went with Euterpe.

We arrived nearly an hour earlier than our appointment. Conforming to the usual behaviour of government servant, we were asked to come back at (no earlier than 20 minutes before) the time assigned. (Alas, to be fair to them, they have to wait also – because there weren’t very many other applicants.) Since the place was in a government building complex, I brought Euterpe to visit the office of other departments – as a kind of general education.

After a short trip to the Post Office, we went to the Immigration Department. There is never short of empty chairs in its lobby, so that Euterpe and I could take some rest.

In no time, we recognized we were sitting next to a robot.

I’m serious. It was a metallic creature for the application of passport; applicants were guided step-by-step throughout the process, the gadget could even collect the passport photo, check the fingerprint, and scan the face (to make sure it matches with the photo submitted, I suppose).

My mouth was wide open. Our society has lost yet another job to the artificial intelligence.

******************************

On a second thought, I was less worried. The robot probably costs more than a million dollars; not very many companies would choose it to replace human worker.

In fact, if we assume a minimal wage of HK$5000 per month, and a gadget with artificial intelligence could work for five years (for example, selling tickets in a fast-food store), it should cost less than HK$300,000 to make it financially neutral. In reality, even if a machine of this kind does seem to save money by simple calculation, one would still prefer employing someone with flesh-and-blood (soul is not necessary) because you can always ask him to take up another task should there be a need, and he could easily be disposed in case you want to close down the business.

We do not have to worry – yet.