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A young woman dressed in a red safety vest, with pockets full of sensors and radio transmitters on her belt and a tablet in her hand, walks in a complex choreography.
This robot ballet takes place at the new Amazon Order Processing Center, which opened in Staten Island, New York in September.
In an 80,000-square-meter (855,000-square-foot) space full of machine sound, the Seattle-based ecommerce titan has deployed some of the most advanced instruments in the fast-growing sector of robots that can collaborate with computers. ;man.
The high-tech vest, worn in Amazon warehouses since last year, is the key to the operation. It allows 21-year-old Deasahni Bernard to safely enter the robot's area and retrieve a fallen object from his automated host. for example, or check if a battery needs to be replaced.
Bernard only has to press a button and the robots stop or slow down or readjust their dance to accommodate it.
& # 39; Symphony & # 39; Human-Robot
Amazon now has more than 25 robotics centers, which, according to Tye Brady, head of technology at Amazon Robotics, has changed the way the company operates.
"What took more than a day now takes less than an hour," he said, explaining that they could hold about 40% more merchandise in the same footprint.
For some, these distribution centers, which have helped to consolidate Amazon's dominant position in global online sales, perfectly illustrate the imminent risk of humans being excluded from certain business equations for the benefit of intelligence. artificial.
But Brady says the collaboration between a robot and a human at the Staten Island site, which employs over 2,000 people, has given them a "nice edge" over the competition.
Bernard, who was a supermarket cashier before starting at Amazon, is of the same opinion.
"I like it much better than my previous jobs," she told AFP under the approving look of Brady.
What role do Amazon employees play in what Brady calls the "robot-man symphony"?
In Staten Island, in addition to the technical vests such as Bernard, there are "storers" and "packers" who load products, combine products for the same customers and build shipping boxes – all with help of screens and scanners.
At each stage, the goal is "to expand people's capabilities" so that humans can focus on problem solving and intervene if necessary, according to Brady.
At the age of 51, he has been working with robotics for 33 years, previously as a spacecraft engineer for MIT and on the lunar landing systems of the Draper Laboratory in Mbadachusetts.
He is convinced that the use of "collaborative robots" is the key to future human productivity and job growth.
Since Amazon's launch in robotics with the acquisition of logistics robot builder Kiva in 2012, the gains have been indisputable, Brady said.
They created 300,000 new jobs, bringing the total number of Amazon employees worldwide to 645,000, not counting seasonal jobs.
"It's a myth that robotics and automation are killing jobs, that's just a myth," according to Brady.
"The data can not be denied on this: the more robots we add to our distribution centers, the more jobs we create," he said, not to mention the potential for loss of life. jobs in traditional stores.
The model & # 39; R2D2 & # 39;
For Brady, the perfect example of the human-robot collaboration is the relationship between "R2D2" and Luke Skywalker's "Star Wars."
Their partnership, in which "R2D2" is always ready to use its computing capabilities to get people out of desperate situations, "is a great example of how humans and robots can work together," he said.
But despite Brady's enthusiasm for a robotic future, many are wary of the trend – a mistrust that extends to the corporate giant, who canceled this month the high-profile projects of A new headquarters in New York facing local protests.
Attempts to unionize Amazon employees at Staten Island and other sites have so far been successfully rejected by the company, fueling criticism.
At a press conference last month as part of the organizing drive, a plant employee, Rashad Long, spoke about what he called unsustainable working conditions.
"We are not robots, we are human beings," Long said.
Sharing benefits
Many suspect that Amazon's investment in robotics centers is intended to eventually automate positions currently occupied by humans.
For Kevin Lynch, an expert in robotics at Northwestern University, near Chicago, the development of collaborative robots is "inevitable" and will eventually eliminate some jobs, such as the last stage of packaging at Amazon.
"I also think that other jobs will be created," he said. "But it is easier to predict the jobs that will be lost than those that will be created."
"Robotics and artificial intelligence bring clear benefits to humanity in terms of health, well-being, happiness and quality of life," said Lynch, saying public policy has a essential role to play in ensuring that these benefits are shared, and that robotics and AI do not worsen economic inequalities.
"The growth of robotics and AI is inevitable," he said. "The real question is:" How are we preparing our future with robots? "
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