BILLINGS — About two months ago, the Billings airport introduced a second robot server by the name Posy-Bot. Although most Billings residents are excited to see the bots bring out their food, some have expressed concern regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the work industry.
Meaning, these bots can be a sign of a larger issue.
As Rosy and Posy bring out meals from the kitchen to the bar, airport visitors are smiling from ear-to-ear.
"The public cannot believe that we are in Billings, Montana. They watch 'em, and they're like, 'Are we in Billings?'" says Tracey Emery, the General Manager of Sky Dine in the airport.
And for other Sky Dine employees, Trace Weigand and Bennett Shoute, the robots make their lives a lot easier.
"They're really easy to use, and it takes the pressure off of having to run back and forth between the areas," says Weigand.
"Taking one more thing out of the equation of things we have to do is so helpful," said Shoute.
But what may seem like a couple of harmless robots could mean a much bigger and more unethical issue, according to Jason Neiffer, the Executive Director of the Montana Digital Academy.
"I have no doubt that we will see an increase, perhaps a dramatic increase, in even the next couple of years in jobs that are effectively taken over, or substantially augmented by some sort of Artificial Intelligence technology," says Neiffer.
Neiffer says that at the forefront these tools and resources aren't threatening. However, when they are released without adequate training, and what he calls "Baking," many ethical questions may arise.
"In a world where we have significant labor shortage industry, or in an area that could be augmented by technology platform, we have to be very thoughtful about that implementation," he said.
But, these problems can be avoided. Neiffer recommends to experiment with tools like Google Gemini or ChatGPT before creating an opinion.
According to Emery, these robots are perfectly safe and aren't threatening the jobs of other Sky Dine employees.
"They absolutely are not replacing anybody's job. They are making everybody's job a lot easier," she said.
But at the end of the day, Rosy and Posy are the first step to something that may completely revolutionize the labor industry.
For better, or for worse.
"I think the critical question isn't you know, 'Will it replace jobs?' But, 'How can we embrace the technology to enhance human workers, and make human workers better at their jobs?'" said Neiffer.
