The barista poured smooth, foamy milk over the latte, starting slowly and then lifting and tilting the jug like a choreographed dance to create tulip-shaped patterns.
CES Technology Trade Show
Latte art typically takes a long time to master, but not for this AI-powered barista. Robots of all kinds attracted attention at the CES technology trade show floor in Las Vegas this week, which concerned Roman Alejo, a 34-year-old barista at the Sahara hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, who is frightened of AI threat in hospitality jobs, saying "A lot of AI is coming into this world. It is very scary and very eye-opening to see how humans can think of replacing other humans."
AI Threat Concerns on Job Losses
The world's largest tech show brought attention to job loss fears after the Las Vegas casino workers' union approved new contracts for 40,000 members a few months ago, concluding a high-profile fight highlighting the AI threat to union jobs.
"Technology was a key concern and one of the final issues to be settled," said Ted Pappageorge, the secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Workers Union, who led the teams that negotiated new five-year contracts to avoid a historic strike at over a dozen hotel casinos on the Strip.
Hospitality workers expressed in an interview with The Associated Press over their eight months of bargaining their readiness to accept a pay cut during a strike to win enhanced job protection against ongoing technological advancements, which includes technologies already in use at some resorts, such as self-check-in stations, automated valet ticket services, and robot bartenders known as "tipsy robots."
Reconsidering Negotiation Strategies
Pappageorge mentioned that the union has been monitoring the rise of robotics in the hospitality and service industry for years. Still, the significant change now is the combination of artificial intelligence and robotics, which have compelled labor unions to reconsider their negotiation strategies with companies, according to experts.
Bill Werner, an associate professor in the hospitality department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, mentioned that unions need to be more intentional in their negotiations for job security, as Casino union jobs might undergo significant changes in the next five years, mainly when the Culinary Union's contract expires.
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In the recent contract, the union enhanced its safety net for workers by securing $2,000 in severance pay for each year worked and the option to move to a different department within the company if a job is eliminated due to AI technology.
"This idea that technology, robotics and artificial intelligence is just running wild with no control at all can do incredible damage, so what we have to do is get ahead of the curve, and CES is where it's at." Pappageorge said.
Innovation Features
Over 100 union members attended the trade show to explore new technology that might endanger additional casino jobs. It featured various innovations, such as friendly-faced robots for hotel and restaurant deliveries, a robotic masseuse, bots that can prepare and serve coffee, ice cream, or boba, AI-powered innovative grills that can broil and sear without a human in the kitchen, and chef-like robots hinting at a future of "autonomous restaurants," as one company described it.
Meng Wang, co-founder of the food tech startup Artly Coffee, one of the 4,000 exhibitors at CES this year, emphasized that Artly's autonomous barista bots are designed to address the labor shortage in the service industry rather than eliminate jobs.
The Culinary Union and its members, including Alejo, the barista, recognize that the hospitality industry constantly changes, saying that innovations are unique. Still, it's scary that everything seems to center around technology in today's world.
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