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Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

businessinsider.com

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Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#11

Post by wdb »

beckman466 wrote: post #2

> "Insider reported in February that Amazon was equipping all delivery vehicles with an AI camera system called Driveri, which is manufactured by a company called Netradyne. > The cameras are always on and scan drivers' body language and the speed of the vehicle, detect if a driver is wearing a seatbelt, and even measure drowsiness. > The system then uses "automated verbal alerts" to tell drivers if a violation has b…

I don't know how it is in the US but I always get the feeling the Amazon driver uses his own van or car to deliver the parcels. Wouldn't even think about having something like this installed in my own car.

I don't agree with such a system but if you use Amazon's van/car there is less opportunity to be against it.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#12

Post by taurath »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #4

I do wonder what kind of company culture produces decisions like this. Multiple high-level people will have signed-off on this. They'll have sat in meetings reading their six page documents and nodding at eachother. I wonder if, at any point, anyone said no - this is excessive? Or that this is dehumanising? Or is it that when you get past a certain level at Amazon are you already so invested in their worldview that t…

The reason for this is they think of people like they think about a server farm - and not just employees but customers too.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#13

Post by krapp »

beckman466 wrote: post #2

> "Insider reported in February that Amazon was equipping all delivery vehicles with an AI camera system called Driveri, which is manufactured by a company called Netradyne. > The cameras are always on and scan drivers' body language and the speed of the vehicle, detect if a driver is wearing a seatbelt, and even measure drowsiness. > The system then uses "automated verbal alerts" to tell drivers if a violation has b…

> Right now it's just a way to gaslight workers and invasively monitor them and upload their information to a black-box vault, for further exploitation by capital (to feed into the racist AI monster).

Just wait until they deploy something like this for the warehouse workers and they start getting flagged every time they scratch their nose.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#14

Post by flyinglizard »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #4

I do wonder what kind of company culture produces decisions like this. Multiple high-level people will have signed-off on this. They'll have sat in meetings reading their six page documents and nodding at eachother. I wonder if, at any point, anyone said no - this is excessive? Or that this is dehumanising? Or is it that when you get past a certain level at Amazon are you already so invested in their worldview that t…

The KPIs will improve. Maybe some of their exec compensation is even tied to these KPIs. It involves technology which is a go to solution in tech companies. It’s applied to people which are viewed as resource rather than employees, and it gets them one step closer to automation (even if Robocop style automation where a living brain is trapped between the inputs and the outputs of the machine). Eventually it’s all justified by the improvement in safety.

I personally think it’s horrible. I think humans must maintain a somewhat loose inefficient environment and process to remain sane. But for those who don’t share my views, introducing such systems is an easy sell.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#15

Post by intricatedetail »

wdb wrote: post #11
beckman466 wrote: post #2

> "Insider reported in February that Amazon was equipping all delivery vehicles with an AI camera system called Driveri, which is manufactured by a company called Netradyne. > The cameras are always on and scan drivers' body language and the speed of the vehicle, detect if a driver is wearing a seatbelt, and even measure drowsiness. > The system then uses "automated verbal alerts" to tell drivers if a violation has b…

I don't know how it is in the US but I always get the feeling the Amazon driver uses his own van or car to deliver the parcels. Wouldn't even think about having something like this installed in my own car. I don't agree with such a system but if you use Amazon's van/car there is less opportunity to be against it.

In the UK that would tip the driver over IR35 and they could have a case for employment tribunal, but in about 2 weeks changes to that are coming, and it will be legal for Amazon to do it while not being liable for employment laws.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#16

Post by tomhoward »

mathieubordere wrote: post #6

Do the drivers have to work extremely long shifts or do they have to work multiple jobs so that fatigue becomes an issue? In that case the camera system is probably not the right solution ...

Driver fatigue is an issue for freight companies of all sizes, everywhere, and use of amphetamines to stay awake has been a frequent practice among many drivers for a long time. This is a freight industry issue, not an Amazon issue.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#17

Post by kmlx »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #4

I do wonder what kind of company culture produces decisions like this. Multiple high-level people will have signed-off on this. They'll have sat in meetings reading their six page documents and nodding at eachother. I wonder if, at any point, anyone said no - this is excessive? Or that this is dehumanising? Or is it that when you get past a certain level at Amazon are you already so invested in their worldview that t…

if you understand that the end goal is driverless/“automate everything” then it becomes more understandable.

the current drivers are just a temp solution to this end goal.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#18

Post by raesene9 »

andyjohnson0 wrote: post #4

I do wonder what kind of company culture produces decisions like this. Multiple high-level people will have signed-off on this. They'll have sat in meetings reading their six page documents and nodding at eachother. I wonder if, at any point, anyone said no - this is excessive? Or that this is dehumanising? Or is it that when you get past a certain level at Amazon are you already so invested in their worldview that t…

It's always been a surprise to me how (generally large) companies can rationalize this kind of behaviour.

I remember the first time I came across it, I saw a project that was going to install detailed monitoring on call centre workers PCs.

In the business case for the software they actually put a financial benefit of this system as something like reduced employee absence due to them being better managed!

There didn't seem to be any acknowledgement that the employees might find the implicit lack of trust involved in installing this kind of software a problem.

Re: Amazon driver quits over AI-powered safety cameras in delivery vehicles

#19

Post by Closi »

wdb wrote: post #11
beckman466 wrote: post #2

> "Insider reported in February that Amazon was equipping all delivery vehicles with an AI camera system called Driveri, which is manufactured by a company called Netradyne. > The cameras are always on and scan drivers' body language and the speed of the vehicle, detect if a driver is wearing a seatbelt, and even measure drowsiness. > The system then uses "automated verbal alerts" to tell drivers if a violation has b…

I don't know how it is in the US but I always get the feeling the Amazon driver uses his own van or car to deliver the parcels. Wouldn't even think about having something like this installed in my own car. I don't agree with such a system but if you use Amazon's van/car there is less opportunity to be against it.

In the UK at least there is a mix of the following:

* Independent couriers (via a delivery app similar to Uber).

* Small business owners that will have a fleet of c10 vans / drivers that contract for Amazon (via a specific Amazon programme to start up your own small van-delivery business for delivering Amazon parcels).

* Amazon directly-employed van drivers.

I think independent couriers are charged a cost per parcel delivered anyway, so it doesn't make sense to monitor those any more than you need to. This potentially could then apply to points 2 & 3 above depending on how far Amazon wants to go with it.

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