We still need people touch in times of automation

Lakshmi Kothaneth -

lakshmiobserver@gmail.com -

Kamal is the manager and the man who runs the show at a cafeteria I know. He does billing, serving, coffee making and another most important thing —customer service.

And this last bit is what makes Kamal special. The food is good of course but for people who are there to take a quick break who are hungry as well, it is the short chats with Kamal that makes the breaks from the work pace worth it.

He almost knows what each one wants. As it is a buffet, if food is running short he knows the technique to convince people to try out something new for that day. Food shortage, you do not react because it is Kamal who has broken the news to you. He sincerely works, and if he is lost in thought we tend to ask him, “What are you thinking about?”

He has long hours but he is happy and content. That is when I realised these two are the reasons what sets him apart. The brand is almost Kamal. My colleague agreed, “Yes, that is why I like to come and have food here.” The only signs of stress on a busy schedule is his cap on his head going up higher and higher. That is the only telltale.

There is another colleague who gets into the mood of singing after his lunch. The place is beginning to have a character.

These are all unknowingly marketing tools. Trends will come and go, and so will the technology, but there is nothing that can change people and the importance of attitude.

The other day we walked in the cafeteria, Kamal announced, “The electricity is out but it has been only for a few minutes. The food is still warm.” The electronic system of billing has gone off too but that should not be a problem for Kamal will start manually calculating — with his mind.

That reminds me of the robotics and the prediction of our future dependency on robots and machinery.

The number one worry is of course loss of jobs but on the other hand it is the fragility of smart systems. We cannot afford to lose our efficiency on managing ourselves. We cannot lose our proficiency or for that our touch — the human touch.

It was probably the 70s or the 80s when the term ‘automatic’ became a key word. The dictionary defines the term as — ‘working by itself with little or no direct human control.’ The list of machinery that made our life easy has been growing from kettle, to washing machine, grinder, driller, coffee makers to my favourite — auto rickshaw. The rickshaws used to be traditionally pulled either by a person walking or a person on cycle. With arrival of automobile the rickshaws too became autos. The kinetic energy is measured more in terms of horse power today.

Leave alone automobiles we are in the era of driverless vehicles and maybe even drones in cases of emergency.

So what is the difference?

Simple. Conversations. Can’t talk to a driverless car or probably the designers might be able to sort that out too for me. Then again some words we would not want to hear would be virus or hacked.

At the 22nd Muscat International Book Fair, the kids’ corner organised by the Ministry of Education also had a demonstration of the 3D Printer. Got to see it bring out objects but I would still want sculptors shape objects with their own palms. And if there are a few finger prints left on them even better.

Most of all a machine cannot hopefully have an attitude. And it is attitude that sets creativity apart. Maybe we can print copies with identical specifications but it is a stroke with a difference that makes a piece of art special and gives it character. It is attitude that sets the person his/her personality. So we need that people touch forever!