- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
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Fears? I’m excited that these jobs where people are treated like machines until they quit for sanity’s sake are getting automated.
Exactly! It seems the other people in comments here don’t understand that this is just a net positive for workers!
You already have universal basic income where you guys are living ? Failing that it’s solely less low qualification jobs and more concentration of revenues for the few above. I don’t see that as « a net positive » -although semantically, those laid off would not be workers anymore so in that you’re right. Horrifically so.
UBI is necessary for this to be positive, so that’s our problem. Not the machines taking the job.
Don’t throw shit at this, throw it at politicians.
And yet you cheer on the loss of jobs and hand wave away issues as someone else’s problem. That makes you part of the problem as the side cheering on the destruction of people’s lives. Seriously how do you “workless utopia” fuckwits not see this?
I know how actually: you don’t work these jobs and it will make you feel better about your demand for more and excessive consumption because “well at least it didn’t hurt a human” but it does and will. You speak from an ivory tower and say it will be good when you hear less screams from below without caring for how the screaming stops.
I actually just want UBI so every single working class can get the basic needs instead of the rich getting richer.
I’m pretty sure I’m in the ground, and not in a tower with this opinion.
Sure but right now that isn’t happening and robotics dismantling jobs destroying income is real. We are focusing on idealism and not reality.
Wanting it is fine but advocating that it’s the only solution right now is not.
They’ve tried in the past and they always perform like shit. I know management salivates at the thought of robots replacing people, but the technology just isn’t there yet. Robots just don’t seem to have very good problem solving skills and can’t deal with the wide range of seemingly inconsequential hiccups that occur throughout the work day that most people solve without much efgort. They do a few simple things well, but then break down at the slightest deviation from that. Maybe one day they’ll marry robots and AI together and they’ll be able to do complicated tasks, but for now they’re just not there yet.
People hear the word “robot” and assume that there’s some level of intelligence involved. Often, that isn’t the case. A robot is usually just a sophisticated machine following a painfully specific set of instructions.
If something unusual happens that an engineer hadn’t written a thousand lines of code to deal with, it could shut down the entire line.
I’m dealing with these specific issues right now in a distribution center, and it’s just with shelf moving robots that Amazon has had for 10-15 years already. It’s amazing how dumb they are and how poorly they are programmed to handle exceptions, and they aren’t even doing puts and picks.
Eventually someone will figure out how to make robots that can handle the more complicated tasks that humans currently do. I figured we were still a decade or 2 away from that point, but if anyone can figure it out quicker, it’s Amazon. I kind of hate the possibility that they might have already figured it out, but I’m very skeptical of a simple announcement.
I agree and will add that management always seems to forget that machines have downtime too. Robots replacing humans is a lovely dream these companies have where they conveniently ignore the needs and demands of using said robotics.
Perhaps, but it will be a net win for Amazon even if they only automate a part of the warehouse.
I honestly don’t know what to think. Yes, people need jobs, but more importantly, they need GOOD jobs. Amazon treats people terribly and, even at their best, does the bare minimum to comply with the law and keep their warehouses staffed.
Employees are being taken advantage of. Getting people out of there might be a net positive.
We need protections for those workers (i.e. UBI, et al) BEFORE they lose their jobs to capitalist dreams, preferably funded by the capitalists.
I 100% agree with this, and that’s why I can’t see robots taking job as bad news.
The problem is with the society. We need to build it better, so these advantages are for us - not for some scummy rich guy.
On another note: nobody should be a billionaire.
Yes, unfortunately currently society exists to serve billionaires, and we don’t see that changing much. More automation will just entrench that power further.
We need to eliminate billionaires yesterday, or risk ending up in techno neo-feudalism.
Capitalism is reaching its end road. Things will change, for better or for worse. How it will change will depend on whether politics will support the people, or the rich… and of we continue on without changing much, it will support the rich.
I think this could have worked if the employees being replaced owned the robots. They don’t have the capital anymore but when there was a middle class this could have been a possibility.
As it stands right now, we need those workers to be out of jobs and on the streets for protections to be considered. Otherwise “they have jobs,” unemployment is low and the machine is “working as expected.” Therefore nothing needs to be done.
we need those workers to be out of jobs and on the streets
I’m guessing you’ll be the first to volunteer then? For the greater good and all.
I think you’re missing the point, those who lose their jobs to automation are somewhat random / due to environmental factors and not up to choice so it’s a bit weird suggesting that.
What they are suggesting is politicians will only act once enough people are suffering in the streets. Not necessarily saying it’s morally justified, just that’s what it takes for governments to take action. Nobody is defending how our politicians are failing us.
Is that what you gather from my comment? 😳
This is why any politicians say they are bringing back the manufacturing jobs back to “US” “Japan” “Germany” or whatever are extremely dumb.
If Amazon doesn’t need employees then they don’t need tax breaks. In fact add a new tax for any business that switches to robot labor. They can pay the missing personal wages in taxes. Texas makes electric car drivers pay more for not using gas, this seems like the same thing.
Why do they need a humanoid robot to move an empty box from one conveyor belt to the other? They could have made a conveyor belt or robot arm instead.
Whatever. I’m glad no human is needed to waste their life doing that shit job.
That’s not what these robots are doing. They are picking items out of bins, verifying them, and packing them into totes which will be put on a conveyor. A conveyor is good for moving boxes or totes, but that’s about it. It does really poorly with small items, large items, irregular shapes, and especially anything in a bag.
That’s not what these robots are doing. They are picking items out of bins, verifying them, and packing them into totes which will be put on a conveyor. A conveyor is good for moving boxes or totes, but that’s about it. It does really poorly with small items, large items, irregular shapes, and especially anything in a bag.
This guy Material Handlings. Handles Material? Does Material Handling?
I’ve heard “material handles” and “handles materials,” but you are correct. I this-guy it hard.
Me too! Or at least I’m in the industry. Software side though.
Similar here. I do computer and industrial engineering for system integrations and process improvement, and I’m currently sending this from a wave picker 30 ft in the air trying to understand what keeps causing this damn jam in our new crossdock conveyor.
That sounds like way more fun than what I do. I just work on our one-stop-shop solutions development/planning/engineering/papers/order entry software. It’s like a glorified, complicated version of The Sims home construction but with conveyors and racking and structural steel and whatnot instead of couches and pianos and windows.
Oh gotcha. I work with a lot of people at various companies that have a similar role as you. I work for a consultancy that gives me the opportunity to wear a lot of hats. The job is always really challenging, but every project is a new adventure.
You think this is the only job they will ever do? They gotta start somewhere.
Yep! No one wants these jobs lol
If you are worried about your amazon job you need to join a government program that will train you for a better job. Amazon sucks to work for and you deserve better.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Amazon is experimenting with a humanoid robot as the technology company increasingly seeks to automate its warehouses.
The company’s ambitious drive to integrate robotics across its sprawling operation has sparked fears about the effect on its workforce of almost 1.5 million humans.
Insisting that people are “irreplaceable” in the company’s operation, Brady pushed back at the suggestion it could one day have a fully automated warehouse.
Digit was developed by Agility Robotics, a startup based in Corvallis, Oregon, and backed by Amazon.
Amazon plans to put Digit to work “in spaces and corners of warehouses in novel ways”, it said in a blogpost.
Separately at Wednesday’s event, Amazon announced it was deploying a robotic system called Sequoia at one of its Houston warehouses in an effort to speed up deliveries.
The original article contains 521 words, the summary contains 130 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Weren’t these jobs like, feared already cause they treat you less like a machine, they treated you like shit to the point youd have a good chance that you have to step over a dead body eventually?
Digit gone get his ass knocked over.
The big reason corporations are using robots instead of human labor is because people either don’t want to work or can’t hold a position.
The turnover rate is actually insane in these positions; enough so that they would rather spend more paying a technician to set up an automated cell with robots, PLC’s, pneumatic slides, ect.
It’s sad af but don’t blame the robots or the technicians, this is not their fault.
The turnover rate at companies like Amazon is so high because the working conditions are so poor and demanding. People are just liabilities and expenses that should be burned through.
Amazon has burned through so many employees that they worry they will not have enough viable applicants to keep filling positions. That isn’t because of the workers, that is a calculated decision by management.
https://www.essence.com/news/amazon-burning-through-workers/
There is no need to a shill and push right wing talking points for corporations, they get plenty of help from the politicians and news networks they buy.
This take is so horrible - you are the first person i ever blocked in my life
I have to admit I’ve never heard anyone read a high attrition rate and then put the blame on the workers. I really, really, hope this person isn’t in any position to make decisions in an organization.
It’s amazing how they disregard the absolute shit working conditions Amazon warehouse jobs have, that can’t totally be why they have a high turnover rate right?
Nobody ever considers the feelings of the poor corporations! It’s all the fault of those mealy-mouthed… sneers … humans! With their “I’m tired” and “I need to eat food” and “I need to go to the bathroom.” How is that productive or efficient? How does that contribute to shareholder value?
/s
The big reason corporations are using robots instead of human labor is because people either don’t want to work or can’t hold a position.
For some reason, people aren’t big fans of timed bathroom breaks and monitored smalltalk.
I work in this industry, and you couldn’t be more wrong. The turnover rate is so high because the job is incredibly demanding, working conditions are usually horrible, and the pay is absolute shit.
What are your other hot takes? Trump won the election? The “lizard people” control the media? Slavery was beneficial to black people?
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