Get the latest tech news

AI-inspired job losses are hitting Korea’s retail and sales sectors hard as more kiosks and automated cashiers replace human staff

AI-inspired job losses are hitting Korea’s retail and sales sectors hard as more kiosks and automated cashiers replace human staff.

The shift accelerated as the Covid-19-driven fear of contagion prompted more shoppers to head for the self-checkout lines or even forgo brick-and-mortar markets altogether, which led to the large-scale closures of retail shops. Although human cashiers work alongside the kiosks at large supermarket chains, convenience stores are experimenting with a more drastic format of the entirely unmanned outlet. “On one side, there are a bunch of people being laid off while on the other, severe labor shortage exists,” he said, “We need a mechanism to match workers properly and a job training system to better close the mismatch trend.”

Get the Android app