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<\/p>\nAmazon robots are redefining the jobs, tasks and physical space required in warehouses to make the ecommerce giant more efficient. Will they lead to fewer jobs for human workers?<\/p>\n
The retailer, which is America\u2019s second largest employer, unveiled the new AI and robotics technologies that it is developing at a warehouse in San Jose, California, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
They include a new robotic arm that can perform tasks that previously required three separate stations; AI software that helps warehouse workers to analyse data to make decisions such as where to deploy workers or manage supply chain bottlenecks; and smart glasses to help delivery drivers to identify packages and drive to the correct destination. <\/p>\n
Tye Brady, chief technologist at Amazon Robotics, admits that automation could mean the company hiring hundreds of thousands fewer people in America over the next decade than it otherwise would have done. He also says that those estimates could be entirely wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really hard to speculate even five years out on what\u2019s going to happen,\u201d he told The Times.<\/p>\n
The New York Times reported on Tuesday that leaked documents appeared to show that Amazon\u2019s automation team expected that the company could avoid hiring more than 160,000 workers in the US than it would otherwise need by 2027; by 2033 it could avoid hiring as many as 600,000 workers while doubling revenue.<\/p>\n
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An Amazon driver wearing smart glasses<\/p>\n
Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokesperson, pushed back on the article. \u201cLeaked documents often paint an incomplete and misleading picture of our plans, and that\u2019s the case here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn our written narrative culture, thousands of documents circulate throughout the company at any given time, each with varying degrees of accuracy and timeliness. In this instance the materials appear to reflect the perspective of just one team and don\u2019t represent our overall hiring strategy across our various operations business lines, now or moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady pointed out that Amazon had grown its workforce more than any other US employer in the past decade, at the same time as investing heavily in robotics. Since 2018 it had tripled its US headcount to almost 1.2 million.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill we become more efficient? Absolutely. But at the expense of people? It\u2019s not the way we roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a mature Amazon logistics market like the UK, though, will there be an inflection point when robotic advances<\/a> mean slower jobs growth? \u201cIt\u2019s hard to predict,\u201d Brady said. \u201cIt depends on the area that you\u2019re in \u2026 I think if you just took the macro scale of what we\u2019ve done in robotics inside of Amazon, we\u2019ve created jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n Amazon workers\u2019 tasks, however, are expected to change. \u201cI want to eliminate the menial, the mundane and the repetitive tasks,\u201d Brady said. \u201cWe have robots that extend and amplify what a person can do. So it allows them to be more productive, and when you\u2019re more productive you then can invest in two elements: better collaborative machines and people.\u201d <\/p>\n Amazon is investing in training existing workers, offering apprenticeships designed to teach them to manage robots. Technical roles include robot maintenance engineers and robot operators. <\/p>\n The robots can do anything<\/a> from picking up bottles of shampoo to stacking packages and shifting heavy containers. <\/p>\n Exectives say robots have taken over tasks such as stowing items, freeing workers to focus on problems such as quality control and problem solving, to ensure that customers get the right product at the right time.<\/p>\n Earlier this year Amazon unveiled Vulcan<\/a>, its first robot with a sense of touch but executives also point to flaws in the robotic systems that reflect the continued need for human workers. <\/p>\n Aaron Parness, Amazon director of applied science in robotics and AI, says we are decades away from robots being able to replicate the human hand. <\/p>\n Robot failures have included trying to pick up a yoghurt pouch but squeezing it too hard so the yoghurt starts squirting out of the end of the pouch.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still struggle to get anywhere close to what you have with your hands in terms of sensor density, the kinds of information you have and your ability to process that information,\u201d he said. \u201cThere is, you know, thirty years of development that I think is ahead on getting manipulation solved to be anywhere close.\u201d<\/p>\n Morgan Stanley analysts have estimated that Amazon could make up to $4 billion in cost savings per year by 2027 as it automates more logistics processes. <\/p>\n \u2022 Amazon joins UK\u2019s \u00a31bn tax club after rise in sales<\/a><\/p>\n
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