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Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

finance.yahoo.com

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Re: Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

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> The significant investment in robotics showcases Amazon’s commitment to innovation in its supply chain and highlights the company’s belief in the synergistic potential of human-robot collaboration. Despite the massive scale of automation, Amazon emphasizes that deploying robots has led to the creation of new skilled job categories at the company, reflecting a broader industry trend toward the integration of advance…

Don't forget all the robots reading it. It seems the end goal of the advertising industry -- robots doing, robots writing, robots reading. Like cockroaches and twinkies, one of the few things to survive nuclear war.

But will robots survive a nuclear war's EMP?

Re: Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

#12

I don't know for aging economics this is somewhat good. But for developing countries it's horrible. Where humans has to search work each day to find food for night

I would suspect that in these countries labor is cheap enough that replacing it with robots would not be cost effective.

Re: Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

#13
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well given the complaints about work conditions it would be good if humans were given less dangerous jobs

Not saying whether it’s good or bad, just the obvious bit left out. Does really show that UBI discussion needs to be had sooner rather than later …

I'm coming to think that the wages that would have been paid to people who robots have replaced should now go into a sovereign fund to help fund UBI.

Re: Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

#15
I assume this is being upvoted because HN thinks this is good? At least that's what I hear in AI threads...

AI just allows humans to work more efficiently right? The few fulfilment center workers left are probably now 100x fulfilment workers now that they can manage a fleet of robotic workers instead of human ones. As HN says, these types of innovations historically only create new job opportunities so there's probably loads of new amazing jobs these replaced workers can go do instead.

For those who are worried about the future we're creating for their children, don't worry, because when robotics and AI can do everything humans can do (and better) businesses will still want hire humans, because they still hired humans when the combustion engine was invented. I'm sure it will be the same this time. Don't be so anti-progress!

Re: Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

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post #15

I assume this is being upvoted because HN thinks this is good? At least that's what I hear in AI threads... AI just allows humans to work more efficiently right? The few fulfilment center workers left are probably now 100x fulfilment workers now that they can manage a fleet of robotic workers instead of human ones. As HN says, these types of innovations historically only create new job opportunities so there's probab…

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Re: Amazon grows to over 750k robots, replacing 100k humans

#20
About 20 years ago I was a programmer at a manufacturing company. I worked on a project to automate part of materials requirements planning. The woman who was in charge of it was spending about 20 hours per week wrangling Excel spreadsheets to figure out what materials they needed. It was all based on data we had: inventory, orders, etc. A few weeks later, and with a fair amount of her help, I'd automated the whole thing. She was happy, it was her least favorite part of her job and she desperately needed time for other things. I was happy, I was showing that I was worth what they were paying me! (Salaried at the equivalent of $12.50 per hour.) BUT: That project took half a job out of the economy. A decent one at that, a nice cushy desk job.

Automation is definitely having an impact on labor demand, with software driving out some jobs much the way cars and trucks drove horses out of our economy. I think it points to an increasing bifurcation, with jobs being high skill / high pay or low skill / low pay, without much in the middle.

Of course here in the U.S. this is also being driven by our monetary policy, our tax policy, our trade policy, our labor policy, I could go on. I'm in favor of UBI, but that seems about as likely as the use of any of those levers to reduce income inequality and spread the wealth our society generates in a way that supports most of those contributing to it.

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