Occasionally I think about the hugely expensive automated baggage handling system which was built for the then new Denver airport. They invited reporters for a big debut demonstration and it was a disaster. It subsequently never really worked and was eventually removed.
Basically it was a promise that magic expensive technology would let them skimp on hiring airport workers.
Automation is nothing new, of course, and often it works quite well, but you don't have to be a supergenius to understand why it would be extremely difficult to implement such a system with non-uniform bags.
Workers aren't that expensive, either.
