My neighborhood Smith’s grocery store has replaced three human-staffed lanes with a new style of self-checkout machine. Smith’s encourages me to carry a scanning device as I shop and scan the items I’ve selected. With this device, I simultaneously do the work of a check-out person — without being paid for my service — and eliminate the job of the same. All for the convenience of not having to interact with another human being.
I am familiar with the assertion that the destruction of one industry leads to the creation of another. I’ve read how carts and buggies gave way to automobiles.