Almost all Americans have access to Amazon at some point. Amazon has online and physical bookstores, Kindle e-book stores, department store shopping malls, Whole Foods fresh food supermarkets, online entertainment and video streaming, cross-border e-commerce, AWS cloud systems, online medical consultations and other services. Amazon has 200 million Prime members who can enjoy free shipping for shopping, specify delivery and pickup times, and receive products within two days or even the same day. If you are not satisfied with the product, you can get a full refund, and even returns can be picked up by dedicated personnel. Go and use the Amazon App to track the driver's route schedule and arrival time. These superior service qualities used to be based on human resources. Until AI algorithms and robots gradually replaced human labor, robots could do all the work that used to require a large amount of manpower.

Amazon has been laying out AI infrastructure for 12 years

As early as 2012, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems, an AI fully automated logistics and transportation system, for US$7.75 in cash. Hundreds of small robots were trained by artificial intelligence to run around on the warehouse floor to help find products and then deliver them to customers. Workers perform packaging and shipping.

AI can accurately identify the location of products and sort them into categories. In the past, it took a lot of manpower to put products on and off the shelves. Robots are not only more powerful, but also can reduce human errors and reduce workers from misplacing products and not finding them. result in losses.

Amazon has twenty machine learning models that allow AI to help delivery drivers find better routes to deliver goods to consumers’ homes. Prime members can receive goods ordered online within two days, and can reduce driver confusion and confusion. Danger of encountering heavy traffic.

Machine workers are durable, as strong as cattle, and smarter than humans

Amazon recently acquired the technology patents of the new startup Covariant and bought the patent rights for robots to develop advanced versions of deep learning robots. The secret to Amazon's success in becoming the leader in e-commerce comes from artificial intelligence. It deploys, plans and designs robot models suitable for the Amazon system, and uses AI algorithms to train the robot arm Robin.

The budget-conscious Amazon does not invest in new startups casually, but buys core technologies to help startups develop new products. This has become a money-saving way to invest in AI in Silicon Valley. After buying the patent rights, you can use technical cooperation with data scientists to develop more suitable robots and reduce the expenditure of the technical department.​

Workers have become accustomed to working with robots in warehouses. The Palletizer robot is responsible for helping workers distribute goods and place boxes on conveyor belts. Robin is a small robot arm that knows how to grab and rotate the package to find the label and then scan the label. If a damaged label is found, it will distribute the package to a conveyor belt or to other mobile robots for further processing.

The robot can also squat down to carry heavy objects. If it is a human being who climbs up and down every day and has to squat down to pick up goods, he will leave his job due to physical exhaustion soon, but the robot has no problem at all.

Amazon's robot arm army has grown from 10,000 in 2013 to 750,000 in 2023. They rely on machine learning and algorithms to learn more sophisticated sensing of goods and handle packaging and parcels more efficiently.

Covariant's team included UC Berkeley professor Pieter Abbeel and his student Peter Chen, who later became Covariant CEO. Abbeel was an early employee of OpenAI and was inspired by ChatGPT to transfer the technology to hardware devices.​

Amazon's existing database can use the generative algorithms of Covariant's artificial intelligence team to train more sophisticated machine operations and streamline labor costs for enterprises. Amazon has big data on customers' geographical location and consumption habits. Starting in 2020, it began to build a generative AI model Transformer Architecture to predict product sales and optimize the supply chain. When the COVID-19 epidemic broke out, Amazon successfully mastered it by relying on generative AI algorithms. The supply chain has been improved, so that goods shipped from overseas can be abundantly distributed by robots in the warehouse.

I still remember that almost everyone who loves to watch Youtube channels has been bombarded by the advertisements of Amazon expert EllenPro. He claims to teach people to sell incomprehensible gadgets on Amazon and earn dozens of times. This type of Amazon e-commerce consultant also To be replaced by generative AI, AI can help Amazon merchants generate different product copywriting and pictures, and even adjust prices and discounts

Investing in AI big data and algorithms, coupled with the development of robotic arms, has become Amazon's strongest strategy. It has made a lot of money and firmly remains the leader of e-commerce. As an Amazon customer, you can enjoy all the benefits brought by AI. Workers whose jobs are taken away by the AI ​​army are not so happy. According to CNBC videos and reports, each robot arm can replace the jobs of three humans. This data is only The tip of the iceberg. Is there any way to save human jobs? Amazon is very vague in stating that humans will work alongside machines and will not be completely replaced. Can the conscience of companies be trusted?

Who can save humanity from being replaced by AI? It looks like nature’s counterattack will be the savior of keeping humanity’s jobs. AI is omnipotent and cannot do anything without electricity. Under the influence of energy shortage and inflation, the energy consumed in running AI will cause companies to switch back to employing humans to save energy, reduce carbon and save jobs.

This Article The Threat of Job Loss from Generative AI: Will Amazon Workers Be Totally Replaced by a Fleet of Machines? First appeared in Chain News ABMedia.