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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology

Chatbots, self-checkouts and the human touch

Customers using self-checkouts at a Morrisons supermarket
Customers using self-checkouts at a Morrisons supermarket. Photograph: Chris Bull/Alamy

Like many people, I am concerned about the rapidly disappearing human element in our day-to-day interactions (Billionaires yearn for a life free of human contact – and they are imposing this on the rest of us, 30 July). For every bank branch that’s closed and every checkout that becomes self-service, the tide moves ever further away from the disenfranchised individual.

If you have problems with sight or hearing, are frail or elderly, or in one of the countless groups of people who can’t, won’t or choose not to use modern technology, then the world can be a lonely and bewildering place.

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