An Amazon logistics middle in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Dummerstorf, Germany, on Nov. 27, 2024.
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Amazon introduced Monday its millionth employee robotic, and mentioned its complete fleet can be powered by a newly launched generative synthetic intelligence mannequin. The transfer comes at a time when extra tech firms are reducing jobs and warning of automation.
The million robotic milestone — which joins Amazon’s international community of greater than 300 services — strengthens the corporate’s place because the world’s largest producer and operator of cellular robotics, Scott Dresser, vp of Amazon Robotics, mentioned in a press launch.
In the meantime, Dresser mentioned that its new “DeepFleet” AI mannequin will coordinate the motion of its robots inside its success facilities, lowering the journey time of the fleet by 10% and enabling quicker and less expensive bundle deliveries.
Amazon started deploying robots in its services in 2012 to maneuver stock cabinets throughout warehouse flooring, in line with Dresser. Since then, their roles in factories have grown tremendously, starting from these in a position to raise as much as 1,250 kilos of stock to totally autonomous robots that navigate factories with carts of buyer orders.
In the meantime, AI-powered humanoid robots — designed to imitate human motion and form — could possibly be deployed this yr at factories owned by Tesla.
Job safety fears
However though developments in AI robotics like these working in Amazon services include the promise of productiveness positive factors, they’ve additionally raised issues about mass job loss.
A Pew Analysis survey printed in March discovered that each AI consultants and most of the people see manufacturing facility staff as one of many teams most vulnerable to dropping their jobs due to AI.
That is a priority Dresser appeared to aim to handle in his statements.
“These robots work alongside our staff, dealing with heavy lifting and repetitive duties whereas creating new alternatives for our front-line operators to develop technical abilities,” Dresser mentioned. He added that Amazon’s “next-generation success middle” in Shreveport, Louisiana, which was launched late final yr, required 30% extra staff in reliability, upkeep and engineering roles.
Nonetheless, the information of Amazon’s robotic enlargement got here quickly after CEO Andy Jassy informed CNBC that Amazon’s fast rollout of generative AI will lead to “fewer folks doing a number of the jobs that the expertise really begins to automate.”
Jassy mentioned that at the same time as AI eliminates jobs in sure areas, Amazon will proceed to rent extra staff in AI, robotics and elsewhere. However in a memo to staff earlier in June, the CEO had admitted that he expects the corporate’s workforce to shrink within the coming years in gentle of technological developments.
The decline could have already begun. CNBC reported that Amazon reduce greater than 27,000 jobs in 2022 and 2023, and had continued to make extra focused cuts throughout enterprise items.
Different massive tech CEOs equivalent to Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lutke additionally lately warned of the influence that AI could have on staffing. That comes as an enormous array of corporations investing in and adopting AI execute rounds of layoffs.
Based on Layoffs.fyi, which tracks expertise trade layoffs, 551 firms laid off roughly 153,000 staff final yr. And a World Financial Discussion board report in February discovered that 48% of U.S. employers plan to cut back their workforce resulting from AI.
