There’s change in the air.

Don’t you just love that comforting roar of the lawnmower; a sound that’s always signalled the arrival of summer?

Enjoy it while you can because it’s disappearing as ever more gardens are patrolled by silent, low-slung robots which trundle around slowly cutting the grass.

These unobtrusive grey or black machines are the thing this summer. It’s hard to complain – other than the fact that they’re not as friendly-sounding and that they reportedly pose a threat to hedgehogs (though they don’t exactly race around at high speed - I noticed that in one friend’s garden, the robot travelled so quietly and at such a glacial pace that even some roosting pigeons relaxing on a nearby rock barely raised their heads at its approach).

There are benefits - number one for most people is that it removes a time-consuming job from a heavy domestic chore-list.

The grass is cut regularly by these relatively lightweight machines that cause less disturbance than big ride-on mowers.

And, because the lawn is continuously topped off in relatively small amounts, grass trimmings and leaf clippings compost more quickly and, therefore, nutrients are naturally returned to the soil.

Also, the robots are silent, though I miss the friendly noise pollution of the traditional mower. The battery-powered robots create no noise pollution and produce no emissions, which makes them more environmentally friendly than the petrol-powered lawnmower.

So yes, thumbs up, I would have to admit, to this form of technology.

But the thing is, the lawnmower isn’t the only thing that’s being disappeared by advances in science.

AI is disappearing so many other things from day-to-day life – like jobs.

It’s something we have to prepare our kids for.

Those........

© Evening Echo