To think Morrisons should be boycotted over their AI adoption?

[RobynRB]

Today Morrisons announced 200 head office redundancies due to AI adoption. I say we should boycott them as a warning to other supermarkets and companies not to go down this route. I know we are told this is inevitable and everyone just seems to be rolling over and let it happen, but we should at least try and the only weapon we really have is voting with our pounds (while we still have them).
Because honestly if you believe that we're all going to be sitting around spending free money while AI does all the work you need your head looking at.

they exist. you're free to shop there.

I suspect that my day will come too when I am tossed aside for Quantum Computing, AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and AIS (Autonomous Intelligent Systems). 😢

I haven't been in since I saw them selling octopus for 84p.

Nice to see the cuts coming from head office instead of the shop floor for once. If Morrisons is anything like the rest of retail there’s too many people sat there and not enough boots on the ground. As for boycotting them you’d never shop anywhere, digital labels will be in all supermarkets soon resulting in potential job losses so where will you go then?

You never shop at a supermarket ? Buy all your groceries from small business , I’m seriously impressed if that’s the case

not a troll. A historian

Yes, boycott Morrisons and any shop that insists on the data harvesting loyalty cards and hold you to ransom to them by charging 3x the price if you don't have one.

I always go through the manned tils. I want to see older people in employment where they can have some social minutes by talking to strangers while scanning their items.

I want to see younger people practice their social skills etc.

I don't care to have my face on a camera while I'm scanning tampons and then be locked into an area, until I show my 'receipt', which wouldn't have been a problem if I'd have gone to a person on a till.

In fact, I have barged through those ridiculous holding pens before and I dare anyone to do anything about it. I won't be held hostage to AI and I won't ever knowingly support it especially over humanity.

I'd hope they would be open all hours then because most greengrocers and butchers were/are only open 9-5! Also we would need to double the number of food banks if we all had to pay the prices independent shops charge. Supermarkets are bad enough.

The problem isn't AI itself, it is what employers choose to do with it. Greed is the issue, always has been!

Good question. I work for one of the big 4 (in store) and can honestly say some people at head office appear to have the most pointless jobs imaginable and get paid a lot more than those doing all the hard slog in store. Literally as much use as a chocolate fire guard. Maybe if we had less of these pointless roles there would be more of a budget to open more checkouts, replenish stock and pick orders faster, keep the stores cleaner… not that any of that saved money will go towards anything like that obviously.

both Tesco and Asda have had HO redundancies too.
its about reducing costs, not AI, and keeping the share price buoyant. Oh, and of course ensuring the CEO’s and board get their bonuses

Sainsbury’s also announced 300 HO job losses in February

I have Morrisons! Rude staff, rubbish points programme and slow to react when it would help shoppers. Nor surprised they are doing this

Those that were fired can work on the shop floor or is that beneath them? There will always be be manual labour jobs.

TBF AI is a problem as well in that it[s a hugely inefficient, energy- and water-intensive technology when we are supposed to be aiming for net zero

I don’t think 200 people could be put into stores near their head office. Morrisons doesn’t have that many stores to make it possible without relocation and who would relocate for a minimum wage job?

This. If you want to boycott companies adopting AI - you’ll need to become extremely self sufficient, as well as keep your money under the mattress.

They are pretty much all at it now.

People who don't believe this will have an effect. I come from an area which relied heavily on coal mining. Thatcher put a stop to that and reckoned that those redundant workers would join the service economy instead. These areas have never recovered and the only services you can find are grotty corner shops selling knock off ciggies and the local drug dealers doing a good trade in substances. Nothing was ever done to help these people back into work. Generations of welfare claimants rather than a university education and a naice white collar role somewhere. Who'd have thought it?

I think it's a fuss over nothing to be honest. Look at the luddites destroying all those machines during the industrial revolution- machines still prevailed in most cases (obviously professions such as roof thatching or shoeing horses can't be replaced by machines).

There is an argument that the luddites weren't anti technology perse, but were protesting against poor working conditions among other things, but I believe it to be more nuanced than this - of course people were still worried about their livelihoods.

All this being said, I do believe AI needs to be used responsibly. For example, in the legal system where AI is being trialled to redact sensitive personal identifiable information about victims within case documentation, I believe that a human being should be cross checking things, which would still save time. It would be like 'marking homework' versus completing the whole task from scratch. The key here in my opinion, is to reduce heavy lifting in repetitive tasks, not to replace human intelligence.

The trouble with this is, we've gone past the point of no return with economical and societal factors to be able to return to this style of trading. When men worked and most women stayed at home, they'd have time to go out to the shop and stand in a queue to be served by the shopkeeper. Our global commodity chain now supports the import of goods from different countries which supply our supermarkets. With both sexes working to support their families, shopping is done after/before work or online when they have the time.

I do like the idea of supporting local independent businesses though, but unfortunately a lot of people can't afford to do this. Farm shops can be absolutely extortionate. I understand that this is the cost of goods when it's a small business with less purchasing power, but it still doesn't make it more affordable for the majority of people.

I think any company that doesn't invest in AI will die a death. They have to adapt and they don't then they'll get left behind and I say this as someone whose job will probably disappear in the next few years (which is terrifying but probably true).

You think of the gas , electric ,diesel ,NI and minimum wages increase
there overheads will of increased dramatically overnight
that why prices don’t come down tbh 200 wage will beat make a dint in it

It's probably some AI bullshit

Net zero is costing us and destroying the economy.

The economy is destroying the planet.