Amazon has begun testing humanoid robots in one of their warehouses in a bid to ‘free up employees to best deliver to their customers.The retail giant Amazon has launched humanoid robots on a trial basis at one of its warehouses in the US in a bid to automate its operations. Through this the company is scheduled to lay off its workers to pave way for the humanlike robots.
- A video of the robots in action showed they have arms and legs like human beings and can move sideways while carrying orders and containers.
- Netizens complained about how AI is disrupting jobs, while others noted the robots were slower than human beings.
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According to BBC, the robots can walk backwards, forwards and sideways and even crouch. They have arms that can pick up and move packages, containers, customers’ orders and objects.
Amazon said the move was about “freeing employees up to better deliver for our customers who are number one priority”.
However, a UK trade union rep union Stuart Richards said Amazon had been treating their workers like robots for many years and worried about job losses with the introduction of the human-like robots.Claims that the company was overworking their workers were however denied by the company.
“Amazon’s automation is a head-first race to job losses. We’ve already seen hundreds of jobs disappear to it in fulfilment centres,” said Stuart.
However, a video of the robots in operation left many netizens with mixed reactions, as some expressed fear about the future of jobs with AI taking over.
There were others who also criticized the slow movements of the robots and added that human beings did more than they were and in a faster way.However with or without the netizen’s take on the robots doing chores meant to be done by humans, the final decision is with the company.