[mcv]

But those are jobs where personal contact matters, and that's not easily automated. By all means automate the hard/annoying/disgusting parts that can be automated, but still add people for the personal touch.

Today, due to the low amount of money we're willing to spend on care, and the high demands and pressure on the people providing that care, people who care for elderly and sick people often don't have the time for personal contact, often to their own frustration. So let's automate everything else so people have more time for real contact.

[simonh]

I think you're dramatically underestimating the cost of providing personal care. It's incredibly expensive because it's so labour intensive, and as you point out it's the personal part of that which matters, which makes the costs so hard to reduce.

[mcv]

I'm not underestimating the cost at all. The people in control of those budgets underestimate the importance of personal contact.