[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"external-oc-629":3},{"payload":4,"id":7,"user":8,"level":14,"course":15,"activity":16,"activity_slug":17,"title":6,"topic":18,"tone":19,"stats":20,"created":23,"score":24,"is_favorite":25,"public":26,"is_external":25},{"text":5,"title":6},"In recent years, automation has moved far beyond factory floors and into the service industries, where its impact is becoming harder to ignore. Tasks once carried out (0) BY receptionists, cashiers and call-centre staff are increasingly being handled by software, kiosks and chatbots. This shift has brought clear benefits, such as faster processing and lower costs, but it has also raised questions (1) .......... the future of human employment. In some sectors, customers appreciate the convenience, while in others they complain that machines are unable to respond (2) .......... empathy or flexibility. Much depends (3) .......... whether automation is used to support workers or replace them entirely. Companies that invest heavily in technology may gain an advantage (4) .......... competitors in the short term, yet they risk alienating clients who value personal interaction. It is often argued that employees will simply move into new roles, but that assumption rests (5) .......... the idea that retraining will be widely available. In reality, not all workers are equally well placed to adapt, and some may find (6) .......... difficult to acquire new skills quickly. The debate, then, is not just about efficiency, but also about (7) .......... kind of service economy societies wish to build, and (8) .......... should benefit most from the changes ahead.","Automated Service",629,{"id":9,"username":10,"first_name":11,"last_name":12,"image":13},22486,"thanasis-kalpaktsis","Thanasis","Kalpaktsis","https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocKsgHZxh5qIVo4_x8woFe2N7no3UAuMvF2C9zlUUilNlyY4Dg=s96-c","C2","Reading","Open Cloze","open-cloze","Create an exercise about the impact of automation on service industries","Standard",{"times_played":21,"num_favorites":22},6,2,"2026-05-05T13:44:08",null,false,true]