Imagine checking into a hotel by kiosk and then heading downstairs for a cocktail served by a vending machine.
That could be a reality soon. Especially in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas is highly susceptible to job automation – more so than any other American city – according to a new study from the University of Redlands.
“It has a lot to do with the type of industries you find in Vegas,” Johannes Moenius, a professor of business at the University of Redlands, told KNPR's State of Nevada.
He said repetitive jobs like food service and food-preparation jobs are more susceptible to automation. Many manufacturing jobs have already been replaced by automation and service industry jobs could be next.
However, Moenius said just because a robot could be used doesn't mean it will.
“Just because a job is automatable, doesn’t mean that it will be automated,” he said.
He pointed to high-end restaurants as an example. Most people would prefer the interaction with a waiter or waitress to "little robots running around," he said.
Plus, while businesses might want to replace people with robots to improve their bottom line, it can have the opposite effect because robots don't buy food or goods or use services.
Moenius said the move to automation is happening quickly and like in the past when old technology is replaced new jobs are created, but he warns, "It will hit people who are not prepared."
Johannes Moenius, professor of business, University of Redlands