There are many things to be learnt from visiting an airport. A trip to Stansted Airport, for instance, will teach you that Stansted is a really dim place to locate an airport. Meanwhile, JFK in New York City will inform you that America is becoming seriously pricey for European tourists.
But a recent trip to Bangkok airport taught me something more profound. There I was, supping some pleasant Singapore Laksa, and I saw this thing hove into view. It was an autonomous robot cleaner, busily keeping all the shiny floors of Suvarnabhumi airport in pristine condition.
Instead of desperately needing more workers to make up for low birth rates and ageing populations we are going to need far fewer workers
It was not the technology that surprised me – you can of course buy domestic robot vacuum cleaners on Amazon – it was the fact I had not anticipated this development, despite it being obvious, in retrospect.
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