Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores • Hacker News Board

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#11

Post by nitwit005 » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:23 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #8

You guys think there will be a backlash to this? Some sort of modern luddite movement? Whenever I shop I refuse to use the self-checkout, you think that sort of thing might spread?

I think we'll just see a ton of videos of electric scooters crashing into them...

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#12

Post by zajd » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:24 PM UTC

irl_zebra wrote: post #10

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #8

You guys think there will be a backlash to this? Some sort of modern luddite movement? Whenever I shop I refuse to use the self-checkout, you think that sort of thing might spread?

Why do you refuse to use the self checkout?

I'm going to guess because of how symbolic it is regarding our society's relation to labor.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#13

Post by rapind » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:24 PM UTC

But can they do the cheer?

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#14

Post by frgtpsswrdlame » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:25 PM UTC

irl_zebra wrote: post #10

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #8

You guys think there will be a backlash to this? Some sort of modern luddite movement? Whenever I shop I refuse to use the self-checkout, you think that sort of thing might spread?

Why do you refuse to use the self checkout?

People need those jobs so I want them to exist.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#15

Post by alexS » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:25 PM UTC

Lets start an open robot cooperative where each co adopting robots to replace human labor donates to high tech or other education. This idea is open source so take it and run with it :)

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#16

Post by dctoedt » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:26 PM UTC

irl_zebra wrote: post #10

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #8

You guys think there will be a backlash to this? Some sort of modern luddite movement? Whenever I shop I refuse to use the self-checkout, you think that sort of thing might spread?

Why do you refuse to use the self checkout?

Can't answer for GP, but I use human checkout to provide epsilon demand for cashiers who need the job. Efficiency isn't everything.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#17

Post by timthelion » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:27 PM UTC

It seems interesting to me, that computers seem to be taking on managerial roles and humans are left with manual labor. The robot knows how to tell a human to fix a problem but doesn't know how to restock the shelves itself. Similarly, in warehouses, computers tell humans what to do, and the human's job is basically just to grab things.

In the end, the robot is already higher on the ladder than the humans.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#18

Post by Roodgorf » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:27 PM UTC

frgtpsswrdlame wrote: post #8

You guys think there will be a backlash to this? Some sort of modern luddite movement? Whenever I shop I refuse to use the self-checkout, you think that sort of thing might spread?

Given the previous reactions to any sort of move by fast food chains toward anything like automation, I can't imagine this won't be picked up as fodder for the "look what happens when you ask for a living wage" contingent.

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#19

Post by comboy » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:28 PM UTC

Isamu wrote: post #2

> the robots are 50% more efficient than a human doing the same task. They can also scan shelves three times more quickly and are a lot more accurate. Human employees can only scan shelves about twice a week. Personally, I want to see up-to-date retail stock mapping (that I can search) Walmart is testing a robot from Bossa Nova (Pittsburgh and SF) http://www.bossanova.com/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/boss…

Why does it have to be a robot riding around? Couldn't the same thing be done from a camera on the ceiling?

Re: Walmart will soon have robots roaming the aisles in 50 stores

#20

Post by hk__2 » Thu, Oct 26, 2017, 9:28 PM UTC

Isamu wrote: post #2

> the robots are 50% more efficient than a human doing the same task. They can also scan shelves three times more quickly and are a lot more accurate. Human employees can only scan shelves about twice a week. Personally, I want to see up-to-date retail stock mapping (that I can search) Walmart is testing a robot from Bossa Nova (Pittsburgh and SF) http://www.bossanova.com/ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/boss…

> Personally, I want to see up-to-date retail stock mapping (that I can search)

Isn’t something Walmart doesn’t want you to have? Having a mapping means being more efficient when shopping in the store, which means less time in it and so less opportunities to buy things.