Inside an Amazon warehouse in Orlando on Cyber Monday
MEANS IT’S A BIG DAY FOR AMAZON. YEAH. CAN WE HURRY UP HERE SO I CAN GET BACK ON MY LAPTOP? WESH 2’S BOB HAZEN SPENT THE MORNING IN THE COMPANY’S SAME DAY DELIVERY FACILITY, WHERE I THINK THEY KNOW MY NAME TO SHOW US HOW THEY GET OUR PACKAGES TO US. THE SAME DAY WE ORDER THEM. THIS IS REALLY A NONSTOP PROCESS WITH PEOPLE AND ROBOTS WHIRLING AROUND HERE IN THIS AMAZON FACILITY, PACKING UP THOUSANDS OF PACKAGES AND GETTING THEM OUT THE DOOR IN JUST A MATTER OF MINUTES. THE PACKAGES START OUT IN THIS FACILITY, BUT BY THE END OF THE DAY, THEY’LL SHOW UP ON PEOPLE’S FRONT PORCHES. CYBER MONDAY A HUGE DAY FOR THE FOLKS HERE AT AMAZON. ON A REGULAR DAY, WE CAN EXPECT TO SHIP OUT AROUND 50,000 PACKAGES FROM THIS FACILITY TODAY. IN THE PAST. JUDGING ON HISTORICAL DATA, WE’LL SHIP ANYWHERE BETWEEN 90,000 AND 100,000 PACKAGES, SO ALMOST DOUBLE THE VOLUME. AMAZON LET US HANG OUT IN ITS MASSIVE SAME DAY DELIVERY FACILITY NEXT TO ORLANDO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. IT TAKES A LOT OF COORDINATION. AMAZON FILLS ITS WAREHOUSES WITH ITEMS MOST LIKELY TO BE BOUGHT IN CERTAIN AREAS, AND WORKERS HERE TAKE THOSE TO FILL UP TALL YELLOW PODS. THEN, WHEN AN ORDER COMES IN, THE ROBOTS THAT LOOK LIKE BIG BLUE ROOMBAS START ROLLING. IT’LL COME. GRAB THE POD THAT CONTAINS THAT ORDER AND IT WILL BRING IT OVER HERE TO THIS EMPLOYEE, WHO WILL THEN GRAB THAT ITEM OUT, PUT IT THROUGH THE WALL. IT WILL BE PACKED OUT, PLACE A LABEL ON IT AND IT WILL BE SHIPPED OFF THE PACKAGES. RIDE THE CONVEYOR BELT TO THE DISPATCH SIDE WHERE A SMALL ARMY OF DELIVERY DRIVERS ARE WAITING, AND FOR THE SAME DAY DELIVERY. AMAZON HAS WHAT IT CALLS FLEX DRIVERS, INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS WHO LOAD UP THEIR OWN PERSONAL VEHICLES TO DELIVER THEM TO HOMES. SOME OF THEM STARTED MAKING DELIVERIES AT 315 IN THE MORNING, AND FOR BIG DAYS LIKE THIS, AMAZON HAS SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE MAKING RUNS. WE START MONTHS BEFORE, SO THAT MEANS WE ARE MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE TRAINING ENOUGH PEOPLE IN ENOUGH EMPLOYEES THAT THEY KNOW THE FUNCTIONS THAT YOU KNOW, THAT THEY’RE GOING TO DO, AND WE MAKE SURE THAT THEY’RE WORKING SAFELY. AMAZON SAYS FROM THE MOMENT A WORKER HERE GETS THE ORDER TO WHEN IT’S READY FOR A DRIVER TO PICK UP, TAKES JUST 11 MINUTES. COVERING ORANGE COUNTY IN ORLANDO, BOB HAZEN, WESH TWO NEWS. MEANTIME, EXPERTS SAY PEOPLE WILL SPEND MORE THAN $14 BILLION THIS YEAR’S HOLIDAY SEASON, AND RETAILERS ARE LEANING INTO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR THAT. CHATGPT MAKER OPENAI PARTNERED WITH WALMART AND TARGET, WHERE YOU CAN ASK FOR SUGGESTIONS AND SHOP RIGHT IN THE APP. MORE THAN HALF OF SHOPPERS SAID IN A RECENT SURVEY THEY PLAN TO USE AI THIS YEAR. I TOOK THE CHATGPT LIKE THE HUMAN BEING, AND THEY RESPOND TO ME THE SAME WAY. AI DOES NOT KNOW MY FAMILY AS WELL AS I DO. AMAZON IS NOW OFFERING ITS OWN CHATBOT TOOL CALLED RUFUS. IT ALLOWS YOU TO TAKE A SCREENSHOT OF A SHOPPING LIST AND AUTOMATICALLY PUT THOSE THINGS IN YOUR CART. YOU KNOW WHAT AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL NOT REPLACE YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD WEATHERMAN. OH, SORRY. LOOK AT THAT. THAT IS MUSIC TO MY EARS.