Author: Jim Tien

In my explorations of secondary sources today, I stumbled upon a discussion about the hospitality industry’s ongoing struggle with labor shortages(I hear the media talk about this all the time, I’m a bit skeptical). Matt Casella, President at Richtech Robotics, writing on Nasdaq shed some light on a solution: “Robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) offer a promising solution. By integrating these technologies, the hospitality industry can not only address its current staffing woes but also lay the foundation for a more efficient and customer-centric future” (Casella, Nasdaq). This perspective, while optimistic, only echoes the investor’s viewpoint. The projected growth in the global hospitality robots market, with a CAGR of 25.5% from 2021 to 2030, as forecasted by Allied Market Research, shows the momentum of this change (Casella, Nasdaq).

There was also an article that referenced a report by McKinsey, highlighting that “an estimated 50% of all current work activities might be automated by 2055” (Granger, Technology4Hotels). They also mentioned “Certain roles including housekeeping and maintenance seem destined for some form of automation. In these areas, robots and AI could be used to help increase operational efficiency, decrease staff costs and improve the guest experience” (Granger, Technology4Hotels). This view points towards efficiency and staffing cost prioritization, potentially at the expense of the average hospitality worker.

A Forbes article presents a slightly less grim perspective, suggesting that robots are not replacing human labor but rather enhancing it (Al-Massalkhi, Forbes). “Some restaurants are currently deploying robotic blenders, “arms” that fry and other technologies” (Al-Massalkhi, Forbes). This article suggested that automation serves as a way to alleviate menial tasks rather than eliminate jobs outright, it’s an optimistic take, but I’ll hold on to my reservations.

The narrative takes a darker turn when we look at the largely automated pilot McDonald’s that opened it’s doors late 2022, located in Texas, USA. At this restaurant, customers can expect to go through the whole process of ordering and getting food without any human interaction, ordering through a touchscreen and getting served with a conveyer belt, outright eliminating the human element in this process. “The test restaurant plays into fears that jobs will one day be taken over by robots and automation, replacing the need for human employees” (Salam, Guardian). During this period of time, there was also a popular tweet about the restaurant as seen below:

What’s even more sinister about this tweet is the fact that the video has been issued a copyright takedown.

Reflecting on these sources reveals the double-edged nature of integrating technology and AI in hospitality. It offers efficiency and cost savings but risks socio-economic disputes. The enthusiasm from investors and management contrasts sharply with the concerns of the working class. Additionally, the impact isn’t limited to manual labor. Generative AI’s breakthroughs are also unsettling white-collar sectors. Coincidentally, this was also one of my uncertainties when I was doing the box of uncertainties project.

References

Casella, M., 2021. How Robotics & AI Is Tackling Hospitality’s Labor Challenge. [online] Nasdaq. Available at: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-robotics-ai-is-tackling-hospitalitys-labor-challenge [Accessed 21 February 2024].

Granger, B., no date. Will Machines Replace Humans in the Hospitality Industry? [online] Technology4Hotels. Available at: https://www.technology4hotels.com.au/article/will-machines-replace-humans-in-the-hospitality-industry [Accessed 22 February 2024].

Salam, E., 2022. McDonald’s opens its first fully automated restaurant in Texas. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/23/mcdonalds-automated-workers-fort-worth-texas [Accessed 22 February 2024].

Al-Massalkhi, O., 2023. Are Robots Taking Over Restaurants? [online] Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2023/03/03/are-robots-taking-over-restaurants/ [Accessed 22 February 2024].

In our latest team discussion on Wednesday, our agenda was to solidify our project direction with an action plan. Earlier in the day before this meeting, we had a workshop with Elizabeth where she was talking about being aware of the time schedule, and shared a quote “Don’t make the Right Decision; Make the Decision Right.” This really resonated with me regarding our group dynamics.

We are struggling a bit with very diverse ideas and the challenge of reaching a collective consensus. I don’t know if it’s placebo or something else, but I felt like the group meeting session later in the day flowed much more constructively with members including myself, XQ, and Khyathi, showing greater openness to compromise. This shift didn’t mean we stopped voicing our concerns, but it meant we were challenging and probing ideas more effectively while keeping the conversation on track within the scope of our project. We did have the occasional diversions into topics like Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and even some backtracking into Western vs Eastern working dynamics, but each time we managed to quickly reign the conversation back into focus on our primary objective.

Our project’s aim became clear, we wanted to explore the impact of technological advancements on labor within the hospitality sector, particularly within tech company canteens. This choice was made with the desire to provoke thought on the broader social implications of tech replacing human roles, touching on the themes of, as Nina puts it, design activism and social change. While I remain a bit skeptical about the assumption of “most” tech companies are actively developing technologies to replace human labor in the hospitality sector, this is mostly a practical concerns as I’m not sure how many of these type of tech companies exists in London, or even the UK. With that said, I still recognized the value in examining the hospitality sector within these settings as it could unveil some insights into privilege, social divides, and the interplay between technological progress and human livelihood.

Having finally reached an actual consensus, for the last time I hope haha. We are going to move forward with our research, both primary and secondary, looking for research, references and evidence to support our project, and allowing us to advance with a clear direction and purpose.

Today’s discussions is a pivotal moment in our project’s development, marked by a passionate(heated actually, haha) debate over our new direction. Initially, I was really drawn(probably because I have experienced this and is really biased) to the theme of employee burnout as I have personally experienced it myself, struggling within a seemingly fun and stress free(company canteens, bars, swimming pool, pool tables etc.) yet ultimately draining corporate environments. I was advocating for a focus on the mental well-being of employees under the stress of burnout. Despite my inclination towards this topic, we as a group, led by insights from Louason and Nina, collectively decided to pursue another equally compelling topic – the ethical implications of technology replacing human labor, particularly in the hospitality sector within tech companies.

This new angle speculates into the future of work, where technological advancements may lead to further job displacement and increase the social class gap. Khyathi also added another angle to our discussion, pointing out that this evolution of technology, pushing out human workers, could erode interpersonal relationships within the society as it would cause people to spend less time interacting with other people. This is a perspective that I found debatable given the breadth of human connections and interactions beyond work and hospitality, for example, family and friends. Khyathi also highlighted to me that the progression of technology and the stress/anxiety caused by the fear of getting replaced will contribute to employee burnout, so we will still be able to cover some aspects of the burnout issue.

After we had finally set a theme, we started brainstorming ways we can present this. It quickly transformed into something like a creative workshop, which was really fun! We started fleshing out a fictional future workspace scenario set in a tech company’s canteen. We envisioned personas including the CEO, a Food Engineer Supervisor overseeing kitchen automation, a human Chef anxious about being replaced, and a Waiter who has already been substituted by serving machines. We also looked at roles of corporate workers at the tech company(sales, marketing, product designers, engineers etc) who contributes to the success of these automation technologies, which might eventually lead to their own job displacement. It’s cyclical and ironic, and we hope to be able to illustrate that in this narrative.

Today’s meeting session, while intense, showed a depth of engagement and diverse perspectives within our group, and also reminded me of the importance of compromise and collaboration in moving our project forward.

Next steps: deepen our research to substantiate our claims (or maybe prove ourselves wrong), also we’ve set the place we want to visit, Google Canteen, not sure if we can get access to it but I’m optimistic.

In today’s tutorial with David, we looked deep into the complexities of our initial project discussions, which centered around our own personal experiences and observations of the working environment. In my previous two journal entries, I realize, may have presented a somewhat unilateral perspective, shaped predominantly by personal observations and inherent biases that they carry. These reflections stemmed from my own experiences or working across different time zones from Taiwan, and always having to adhere and adapt to my US or EU coworkers time schedule, instead of having a balanced schedule. And another experience is my observation of a trend in Taiwan, where senior positions often went to white, English-speaking individuals, who more often then not doesn’t have any relevant industry experience, this is a sentiment Nina, coming from Shanghai, could relate to.

These observations and personal biases that I had, led to a narrative that seemed to create an adversarial divide between Asian and Western work cultures. However, I understand that these problems are multifaceted and complex, deeply rooted in cultural, educational, and system biases rather than simple geographical distinctions. A remind from David today really struck a chord with me: “Privilege has no color.” This statement underscores the reality that the benefits and disadvantages within societal structures often transcend racial lines, pointing instead to a broader class divide. This is a scenario that our group initially presumed to be a future event, where the cultural lines of the West and the East are blurred, and all that remained is the class divide, but this is in fact a present-day reality.

Reflecting on this, I was reminded of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” which we read in our workshops last Wednesday. The utopian city of Omelas – a city whose prosperity relies on the suffering of a single child – is a really powerful metaphor for our current society. It highlights an uncomfortable truth: the comfort and prosperity enjoyed by some are often predicated on the suffering of others, like how the comfort of tech workers in their fancy offices is predicated by the laborious work of the hospitality workers operating within their company.

Given these insights, our group is considering a pivot from the initial East vs West discourse. We are exploring themes like burnout and the challenges faced by hospitality workers in tech companies, among others. This shift reflects a broader understanding of workplace issues that transcend cultural boundaries, focusing instead on the systemic inequalities.

As we move forward, a collective decision on our project’s direction will be made after further discussion and reflection after classes tomorrow as we digest that we have learned today. This process, while time consuming, is important as it helps us make more informed decisions through putting our minds together.

Just another thing to add, as the tutorial with David ended, an interesting observation highlighted the subtle cultural influence within our group, being predominantly Asians (Chinese & Indian). As David and Nina were engaged in a post-class discussion, I noticed that most of our group members remained seated, fiddling with their phones, except for Khyathi, who was the exception to this pattern. This moment was a reflective moment of the broader cultural practice prevalent in the Asian workplace culture, of not leaving before the leader/authority figure. Although David is technically not our leader in this setting, but a peer, a tutor, the deeply ingrained cultural and educational norms still influenced our behavior. This really goes to show how cultural nuances influence even the most routine of our actions.

We had a second meeting scheduled in this first week, on Friday we met on teams to discuss further about the specifics of this project. We particularly focused on selecting an appropriate location and workplace for this project. We’ve decided to concentrate on offices near King’s Cross, targeting companies with a global presence and an established office environment. Some examples included tech companies like Google and Samsung. Although there’s an understanding that gaining access for a tour and interviews might be challenging, we are optimistic and plan to approach with a proposal.

Our discussion also revolved around the evolution of work, spanning from the past and present to our speculations for the future, in our context of Asian work culture vs the Western work culture. We feel like colonialism has left a lasting impact in the Asian countries which has been colonized before (which is most of it). This past is still mirrored in the present scenario, where exploitation of workers, manufacturing demands, and environmental concerns are burdens for these Asian countries to carry, while the Western countries reap the benefits. This dynamic really shows how colonialism is still kind of alive and kicking in our present society.

As we speculated into the future, I had a slightly different idea. I thought that with the ongoing globalization and modernization, the primary divide of Asian versus the Western could shift to a more pronounced disparity between the upper and lower classes. This perspective sparked a thoughtful discussion within our group, even comparing it to the caste system in the Indian culture. We were really interested in how these evolving dynamics could shape future work environments and societal structures, but we were far too ahead so we dropped this discussion and plan to come back to it in future weeks.

By the end of this discussion, each of us were allocated a subject that is within our interest to look into. I will be looking into the context of Western vs Eastern working culture, XQ on how the result-based culture impacts the Asian working culture, Khyathi on the caste system and it’s impact on the Asian workplace, and Nina on international working in the context of globalization and colonialization. Our next steps involve reaching out to potential companies for tours and interviews, alongside further refining our speculative scenarios based on our research findings and discussions.

Reflecting on our initial group discussion and tutorial for the Future of Work collaboration project today, conversation with the group and tutor started with a personal introduction round, highlighting our different experiences and backgrounds. My unique position in this, being the only person who has spent some significant time in a corporate environment, provides me with some personal experience which I can draw upon. At first, we touched on the issue of burnout at work, which is something I have personally experienced, this is something that I have struggled with for a long time, and have never really worked out how to combat this issue. I loved video games, and I worked in the video game hardware industry. There is a direct link between my professional work and personal hobby, this seemed like the perfect match. However, it led me down the path of overwhelming burnout, where I dread going to work and I avoid my gaming devices, which I used to love so much, it affected both my work and personal life.

Transitional to the topic on work-life balance, we found something that we were all very interested in. We think that this is a critical issue, especially from an Asian perspective. Our group, being predominantly Asian, shared insights on our own observation of cultural differences in work ethic and expectations between Asian and Western labor. We went into the subject of manufacturing labor outsourcing to Asian countries and its ramifications, of how these “blood” factories produce the world’s electronic devices, brand wear, and more, and how these Asian laborers are exploited while the rest of the world enjoys the goods produced by them. Nina’s comparisons of these practices to modern-era colonialization was really spot on, and I agree with her. I also shared my own personal observations of the stark work culture differences between Asian and Western counterparts in a global companies. The expectation for Asian employees to adjust their schedules for Western colleagues really shows the deep cultural disparity in valuing personal time and work commitment.

Our discussions brought up the societal differences in perceptions of labor rights in Asia and Western cultures. From my own observations, strikes in the UK are often met with public sympathy and support, this shows an understanding and respect for laborers. On the other hand, in Taiwan, public and media reactions to strikes are really harsh. Strikers are often labeled as selfish, and I think this really highlights the cultural divide in value placed on individual versus collective needs, which is another area of Western vs Asian culture.

As we move forward, our decision to potentially narrow our project’s scope to this cultural comparison is still tentative. We are open to integrating new insights from tomorrow’s speculative design lectures, which might add to, or allow us to pivot our project direction. This initial dialogue with the team today has laid a great foundation for our collaborative journey, and made clear the importance of personal experiences and critical reflection in tackling this new project and bringing on ideas of a more inclusive and equal global work environment.

Background

Today, I want to share a reflection on a recent intervention project I presented, part of the Box of Uncertainties project. This project intersected at the crossroads of video game culture and the public perception of violence, which is a space filled with media-fueled stereotypes and personal anecdotes.

Video games have long been in the crossfire of debates on societal violence. Politicians often use it as a scapegoat of violence that is happening in their countries, and mainstream media helps to paint a dire picture, suggesting a direct correlation between in-game violence and real-world aggression. My project aimed to peel back these layers of assumption and prompt a more nuanced discourse. The central question that guided my exploration was: “How can I challenge the stereotype of violence in gaming and enhance the public’s perception of video games?“

The Intervention: A Digitally Distributed Poster

As a response, I created a poster that juxtaposes everyday objects with gaming peripherals, and symbols of violence often seen in game, in this case, weapons. Combined with the text on the poster, I hope to provoke people into reflecting on whether individuals close to them, people they know and care about who engage in violent video games, are indeed violent human beings as often portrayed, challenging them to reconsider their bias.

The poster was distributed through my own social media channels, followed by an invitation to fill a survey to capture reactions. The results were varied. A majority expressed a softened stance towards violence in video games, yet many remained unmoved in their previously held beliefs. I also just recognized a risk in this approach after gathering the responses. If a viewer does have a violent gamer in their life, the poster might reinforce negative stereotypes instead, and from my survey, out of all the participants who have gamers in their lives, 25% of these people identify these gamers as violent individuals. Based on my secondary research, I did not expect the percentage to be this high. This statistic is a stark reminder of the complexities of this topic.

The Path Forward

This project has been eye-opening, reflecting not just societal perceptions, but also the complexities of individual experiences. The path to challenging entrenched stereotypes is a winding one, and the results showed the necessity of properly thinking through my approach and making informed decisions instead of just jumping the gun.

As I continue on this journey, the experience gained here will undoubtedly inform future endeavors. The intersection of video games and violence is a microcosm of broader societal dynamics, and it deserves a balanced, thoughtful exploration – one that acknowledges the shades of gray in a conversation too often rendered in black and white.

Links

Survey Results and Presentation Deck: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bZc3ST4qOjOwg33sH2-1-z0i6mcQnB3S/view?usp=sharing
Project Summary: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MIiQgGlkd4z_oNcyJpMp5D4aiqqzEGFXY1kwk9HpaAE/edit?usp=sharing

Yesterday when I went for the tutorial session, I had gone with confidence to put a question across being well informed and ready to learn about the topic. Personally, the first perspective was self-informed because it was based on personal experiences and studies which I had come across. It is because it seemed that there was an apparent hesitancy among most video game players to be labelled with the term ‘gamer’ which carried with it a negative connotation like those found being socially awkward, unhealthy, and unattractive.

However, the tutorial discussions opened me the possible biases in my approach. Maybe I, too, have been too focused on views that go along with my own experiences failing to take into big picture account. This made me explore into more varied sources.

My investigation resulted in an interesting discovery that, throughout the years, the stereotype of a gamer has changed. A decade ago, gamers living in Great Britain and the United States were regarded negatively as they had the highest scores for such items as ‘unpopular’ and ‘socially incompetent’ (Miriyagalla, 2023, p.293). However, with mainstreaming, this negativity was significantly dampened, though there is a hangover of this negativity in particular towards gamers playing violent video games (Miriyagalla, 2023, p.293).

This led me to another important aspect – a relation between violent video games and real violence. Contradictory to popular belief, researches like those of Williams and Skoric (2005) on MMORPGs found no significant evidence of a relationship between violent gaming and real-life aggression. When all is said, players also revealed no possible increase in aggression and argumentative behavior after the stimuli was a violent game such as “Asheron’s Call” (p.217, 228).

Now I am now in a position to narrow down my area of focus from these revelations. It is not only the problem of general perception of gamers, but an issue that hovers over the heads of those who play violent video games. This leads me to reframe my research question as: “How we can effectively change the public perceptions to reduce the lingering negativity towards the gamers playing violent video games?”

As I move forward, I am becoming more aware of the need to conduct my research with an open mind and ensure that I delve into thorough, unbiased investigation.

*Edit (30 Jan, 2024)

Yesterday’s tutorial with Zuleika really pushed me to think – why do we have these stereotypes about gamers, and who set them in the first place? It’s curious how the media has shaped our view of gamers and how that’s changed over time. And it’s not just about how gamers were seen, but also about how they’ve come to see themselves. Also just wanted to add, when I was revisiting some articles today, I’ve got to read more about “The Proteus Effect” – it’s fascinating how our digital selves can influence who we are in the real world. I’m definitely going to dive into these two different ideas more. Who knows where it might lead?

References

Miriyagalla, U. P., Kashima, E. S. and Stukas, A. A. (2023) ‘Stereotype content of players of violent and non-violent games’, Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 26(3), pp. 287–298. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12558.

Williams, D., & Skoric, M. (2005). ‘Internet fantasy violence: A test of aggression in an
online game’, Communication Monographs, 72(2), 217–233.

After yesterday’s tutorial with Cecelia, I realized that there is an overarching theme in my objects, tying together my box of uncertainty. The interplay of identity and its ever changing nature. The realization of these interconnectedness has given me a new lens to view these experiences.

When I first started gaming, creating my avatars was more than just a part of the game; It was a window into exploring my own identity. Each character I craft, their styles and traits all varied at different stages of my life, as I evolve, so do my avatars. They are dynamic embodiments of our changing selves, each avatar I created mirrored my personality at their time of creation.

The move from Singapore to Taiwan was another important part in this narrative. My coin, symbolizing the transition, was about more than just a change in geographic location. It marked a significant transformation in my personal growth and journey. I was struggling to find a sense of belonging, as I continuously tried to adapt to fit in.

The show “Rick and Morty,” initially echoed my pessimistic outlook, however as I evolved and revisited it, I started to perceive it differently. The same lines that once resonated deeply with my pessimism began to align with a more positive perspective, it made my own personal growth and evolution over the years clear to me.

Looking at the topic on generative AIs, the tutorial yesterday kind of sparked another layer of understanding in this. With all the human data that these AI models feed on, I feel like it’s a reflection of human creativity and collective identity, a blend of multiple different individual inputs into a shared narrative.

Reflection of Patricia Duff’s Paper on Transnationalism, Multilingualism, and Identity

In Duff’s article on transnationalism, she explores the complexities of identity formation through the lens of language and literacy, particularly focusing on how individuals navigate these elements across geographical and cultural borders. This perspective resonates with my transition across a different language and culture.

As I settled back into life in Taiwan, the Chinese language felt unfamiliar, almost foreign to me. I found myself clinging to English, the language that had become my comfort zone. From gadgets to social media settings, everything I could set to English, I did. Even now, more than two decades later, this practice persists. I think this linguistic habit goes beyond just a habit, but I like to think of it as a lingering embrace of an identity that was formed during my formative years in Singapore, which still holds a little bit of influence on me to this day.

Reflecting on Duff’s observations, I understand now that my grasp on the English language is more than just a preference, it’s a subconscious effort to hold onto a part of my past. As Duff’s concept puts it – how transnationalism and identity are intertwined with languages and literacies we use to navigate our worlds. It’s fascinating to see how language can play such a crucial role in shaping one’s identity and sense of belonging. In a way, my journey mirrors the experiences of many who find themselves navigating the complexities of different identities. Just like the subjects in Duff’s study, my own linguistic choices has been defining and redefining who I am. As I grapple between the two languages and culture, I often feel the sense of not quite belonging to either. This is perhaps the ‘hybrid sense of self’ that Duff describes as a common phenomenon among those with transnational experiences (Duff, 2015, p.448).

This realization beings new light to the fluid and complex nature of identity. It’s not static but evolves with every new experience and environment. The move from Singapore to Taiwan was not just a simple relocation, it was a pivotal chapter in my ongoing evolution of my personal identity, deeply defined by language and culture.

References

Duff, P.A (2015). ‘Transnationalism, multilingualism, and identity.’ Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, pp. 57-80.