The challenge: finding a balance between efficiency and the human touch

How can a video game teach us a valuable life lesson? Nicholas Carr explains.

The success of the company Coinstar — which owns the DVD rental kiosk company Redbox — sheds light on the belief that things like DVDs and pennies have no future. Both businesses use machines to sell their products rather than human employees.

Marketplace's David Brancaccio and his robot dog Wilson drive coast to coast without as much as a "hello" to fellow humans.

Sprinkles Cupcakes installs a robotic cupcake ATM.

Commentator Frances Frei says automation needs to improve the customer experience, not frustrate it.

Almost halfway through his coast to coast, robot-fueled journey, David Brancaccio has to heat up dinner on his car's exhaust.

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate, and at that speed, computers, automation, and robots are already doing tasks most people did not believe were possible. So what does that mean for the jobs economy?