Rosemary Augustine

May 4, 2018: My condo complex is situated around a public golf course in Melbourne Florida.  Mallard Landing and Craine Creek –  due to the extensive losses the city has incurred over the last 10 years.  Now all kinds of thoughts went through my head – like more condos on the 200 acre parcel that Mallard Landing adjoins creating increased density, congestion and possible increase or decrease of property value.

Earlier this week I attended my first ever city council meeting.  I wanted to hear what the plans were and whether it’s too late to sell or whether my much coveted view will be drastically diminished.  Much to my surprise, every member on that council wanted to keep the golf course even though it has lost millions of dollars since owning it.  During the meeting an extensive review of financials for the last 10 years was laid out, discussed and decided to change the way the golf courses are reported on the books and to include them in the general fund and not treat them as separate entities with no relation to the parks and recreation budget.

They asked people from the audience to speak.  Many were golfers, employees of the golf course, and of course, yours truly – a non-golfer who sees a significant need for the city and the golf courses to improved their marketing efforts.  I was given 3 minutes to speak, and within those 3 minutes I outlined some marketing options that would improve visibility, increase membership, and overall improve the bottom line.  The council was thrilled to have my input and many agreed that marketing is an absolute critical need for these two public golf courses. The council was also thrilled with the fact that so many of the general public with a vested interest in the golf course attended the meeting.

I’ve lived in Melbourne, Florida for 3 years, and I achieved my 15 minutes of fame in all of 3 minutes.  Who would have thought it would be at a city council meeting on the 1st of May.  Quite the May Day event with a positive outcome.

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May 1, 2018: Much to my surprise, while away on vacation, I received an email from my boss asking me to respond to Amy Ingram about attending an upcoming client meeting.  “Who is Amy?” was my first thought and then figured it was the wholesaler selling the product that will be presented to the client at that meeting.  As I looked at the email further, Amy was listed as my boss’s personal assistant.  “WTF?”  was my next thought, only to see a P.S. from my boss stating “Rosemary is still very much employed.”  A bit more digging and I found that Amy has a full name of Amy Ingram, a Bot that schedules meetings for busy executives. (visit x.ai to learn more).  Although scheduling client meetings has not necessarily been a function of my administrative duties for a long time, still I’m miffed by the thought of Amy threatening my livelihood.  Thoughts of Bots replacing us in everyday chores, duties and functions get carried away in my imagination.  Now I could get a little graphic about some of the duties and functions these Bots could perform, but I’ll refrain, since your kids may be looking over your shoulder while you’re reading this.

I’ve worked as an administrative assistant for years – too many years at this point.  Though I still enjoy the process of organizing and following up on projects that my busy executives either delegate to me or expect that I’ll  handle the process just by knowing what needs to be done. I’ve come a long way from the days of typewriters and carbon paper for copies.  Even though I’ve performed administrative functions all my adult life for various companies and executives, it might be time to realize that with technology, more so the speed of technology, will ultimately do away with most of what I do.  Even as a writer, technology is being programmed to write with emotion.  Art is being programmed so that software can paint pictures with proper use of lighting. Technology has been in the operating room and is now in our homes with Alexa.   So where do we all fit in?  on the heap in the movie of Soylent Green?

I’ll need to check my attitude and relax.  Even though I laugh at the thought, I know my days are numbered and have been for some time because of technology.  At least for now I need to see if there is an Amy out there that can do some of the publishing tasks I need to delegate.  So much is being automated, even new refrigerators are designed to know when you are running low on milk and will order for you and have it delivered.  And delivered probably back into the fridge if we’re not careful.

So if you think you can’t be replaced, think again.  Amy is just one example of jobs moving to technology.  Remember though, someone has to program Amy to do the tasks.  Someone has to create the check boxes for the technology to check off that the tasks are completed.  And, remember, the check boxes that are being created have to be the right information or the job isn’t done correctly – only what was listed on the checkboxes.

We’ve become a world of robots ourselves sadly.  Simply because I often hear “I’m only doing what I was told to do” by clerks that aren’t into their job.   However, can a Bot think beyond what it’s asked?  Go the extra mile? Care enough that the job is done with feeling not just precision.  Can it challenge the clerk, the boss or even ourselves when something doesn’t seem right, fair or accurate?  I fear what the world will be in 20 years with the progression of Bots.  Think about all the things that these Bots are already doing.  And, the speed in which they are invading our lives.  Although my days of working in an office are probably numbered, not because of Amy, but because how much longer do I want to be on the wheel like a rat spinning out of control just to make the day.  I’m facing the possibility of being extinct because of Bots like Amy.  Then again, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.  A chance to write more books, paint more pictures, and wouldn’t it be nice to let Amy get the coffee for when those clients come in for their meeting.

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