Fears of employee displacement as Amazon brings robots into warehouses
GuardianOct 19, 2023
Amazon Tests Humanoid Robots in Warehouses
The Facts
On Wednesday, Amazon announced it had begun testing a bipedal robot — named Digit — to perform highly repetitive tasks, such as consolidating tones, in its warehouses.
Though it's in the early stages of development, the company says Digit can move, squat, bend, and grasp items using its arms and legs.
The Spin
Narrative B
Amazon is simply attempting to change how it moves items through its warehouses so its staff can be free of all the menial tasks and better deliver for its customers. It's also possible that there will be health and safety benefits for human workers. Fears of Amazon using robots to replace people are overblown.
Nerd narrative
There's a 34% chance that AI will be given legal rights or be protected from abuse anywhere in the United States before 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.