The left kills the narrative of "robber thieves"

Zume CEO Alex Garden has been working for years to replace workers in his pizza chain with robots. And, he does not think that makes him so mean.

"People say, look, robots are going to cut jobs, AI will cut jobs," Garden told Business Insider recently. "I say it's absolute nonsense – it's a choice."

"We do not automate the work," added Garden. "We automate boring, dangerous and repetitive tasks."

Zume made the headlines as a chain using robotics and artificial intelligence to make pizzas. In 2018 he raised $ 375 million from Softbank. Now, says Garden, the startup uses what it has learned as a pizza chain and puts its delivery tools, packaging and other technologies at the disposal of other companies.

A big part of this puzzle is providing restaurants with tools that will allow them to automate their tasks, potentially putting workers out of work. At Zume, Garden explains that employees are usually offered new roles – often promotions – within the company if their job is replaced by a robot. However, if Zume provides fast food giants with similar tools, it is almost impossible to guarantee that similar care will be taken.

"All the world's CEOs will be forced to adopt automation to maintain their competitive position, so it's inevitable," Garden said. "But what I will tell them is that when that happens, what will you do then?"

"We should not be haunted by the specter of being automated without work"

Increasingly, it's not just the executives who are trying to reduce costs that support the rise of robots. Workers' groups and progressive politicians have begun to focus on potential potentials.

Mary Kay Henry, president of Service Employees International Union and force majeure of the Fight for $ 15 movement, told Business Insider earlier this year that the labor movement should not fight against automation.

"I think we should welcome automation," said Henry. "But workers need to be part of the design and transition, that's what fast food workers have said."

Henry pointed to Germany, where union workers have worked with companies and the government to move away from fossil fuels. Henry argues that this change – although not always harmonious – can provide a model of how workers and governments can work together.

"At the present time, the way automation is introduced to the workplace looks like the wild and wild west, and the strongest will survive," said Mr. Henry. "We do not think that it is the rules that should govern the introduction of automation."

Read more: The union president who helped make the minimum wage of $ 15 a reality at Amazon and Costco reveals how much automation can be good news for fast-food workers

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democratic Republican, shared an equally optimistic view of automation at SXSW in March.

"We should not be haunted by the specter of work automation – we should not worry that the toll collector is not collecting the tolls – we should be excited about that. But the reason we're not enthusiastic is that we live in a society where, if you do not have a job, you're left for dead, "Ocasio-Cortez said.

"We should be enthusiastic about automation, because it could mean more time to educate us, more time to create art, more time to invest in science, and to study science." , more time for the invention, more for going into space, more time to enjoy the world we live in. Because all the creativity does not need to be bound by a salary. "

The rise of automation has generally been described as dangerous for workers. The World Economic Forum predicts that half of the companies will reduce their full – time workforce by 2022, and McKinsey estimates that one – third of American jobs will disappear by 2030.

However, at least some progressive leaders urge the United States to look on the bright side. If the United States accepts the reality that robots do some jobs, the country can improve the way people work and earn a living.

Unions have already begun to consider more futuristic consequences of automated work in contracts, such as taking care of housework by robots in Marriott hotel rooms. Ideas such as universal basic income are gaining popularity, while proposals, such as the New York City Mayor's Bill Robot Tax, Bill de Blasio, aimed at discouraging automation are ridiculed.

Robots can be comrades, not competition, support these progressives. The United States just needs to know how to deal with them before our new colleagues take control of the workforce.