Amazon opened a technologically up-to-date warehouse in Boston recently and invited the television media in for a look. The place was buzzing with robotized machines, even a couple that looked vaguely humanoid.
It became fodder for one of those breakfast shows with a panel of discussants. A woman who reported on the opening was agog with the efficiency of the whole operation. AI combined with robotization is certainly stretching the limits of human capability.
The inevitable question was raised: What will happen to human workers’ jobs as machines like these gain more elbow room in the workplace? The reporter was so ready with her answer you got the impression the whole thing was scripted beforehand.
The essence of it was robots take care of the more mundane tasks and free up humans for higher-level activity, “which makes them more human.” The other half of the response was that Amazon has only hired more workers as it has grown.
Of course, Amazon, being an innovator, has transformed the marketplace and it is unclear whether it has created more jobs than it has taken from its competitors. Amazon’s contribution to the world, in fact, must be judged from many angles.
I wonder if our schools are really turning out the caliber of students who will be equipped to survive in the high-tech workplace. Many companies already know that if they want qualified workers, they will have to train them themselves.
Some people may have noticed that AI is already competing with human teachers. Duolingo has achieved enormous success with AI-powered language learning programs and is branching out into math. Google has just launched an AI application that can converse with students and build up their language skills that way.
Such developments keep people very excited about technology while also challenging them to keep up. These distractions, in turn, don’t leave people much time or energy to think of the larger picture, and their employers don’t necessarily want them to.
If that TV reporter had been a little more cynical in her assessment of AI and workplace robotization, businesses like Amazon would think twice before inviting her to any more ribbon cutting events. It's an example of how reporters are controlled by the business establishment.
The bigger picture is that climate change and environmental degradation are bigger even than Amazon, and, like the breakfast media show, climate change and environmental degradation also are feeding on Amazon. All these robots are sending more plastic and packaging waste and emissions into the environment at a faster rate. That combined with incessant competition is dehumanizing and lowering the quality of life for untold millions.
Were he alive, Henry David Thoreau might say, “My shack in the woods beside the clear spring is still better than the entire Amazon shopping catalog.” Who dares to agree?