From vacuum cleaners to AI assistants: A cautionary tale of technological promises

British engineer Hubert Cecil Booth, who was better known for designing suspension bridges and Ferris wheels, invented the first powered vacuum cleaner in 1901. It was a horse-drawn combustion-engine-powered suction sweeper that promised to revolutionise everyday work for housepersons.

Have you ever wished you had another set of arms for your cleaning, after over 120 years when the first vacuum cleaner came out?

We tend to assume that things like the vacuum cleaner, the electric iron, the laundry machine, etc. made life easier. These electric appliances indeed replaced processes that would previously have required time-intensive human labour. However, as a whole, these inventions did not result in there being less domestic work.

Here’s the proof. Between 1912 and 1914, research had been done to find out how many hours a week women spent on domestic chores. This was before the widespread adoption of electric appliances. It was found that the average woman spent 56 hours on housework. Between 1925 and 1931, electric appliances had become standard, thanks to cheap portable electricity. Yet, the amazing thing is that research still found that women were spending between 50 and 60 hours a week on household chores. Even as late as 1965 the average was still 54…