Soon robots might be able to empathise with humans
When we think of work, it’s natural to mostly think of the practical tasks it involves. But there’s another side of work, an emotional side: we must regulate our feelings while we’re at work and do as much as we can to maintain a pleasant exterior, even when it’s only a thin facade concealing a writhing mass of stress, anger or anxiety. This psychological work is called “emotional labour”, a term coined by the sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild in 1983.
Where there’s labour, there’s potential for labour-saving technology, although when it involves human feelings it comes with an unmistakably dystopian twang.
Service industry workers such as waitstaff and call centre workers are under the most pressure to put in the emotional elbow grease, to smile and be cheerful even when dealing with obnoxious or irate customers.
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