Amazon’s New Robot Picker for Warehouses Uses AI Technology to Identify Objects

Amazon has a poor record in conditions for warehouse workers. This is especially true when robots are involved. The Reveal publication of the Center for Investigative Reporting released a report in 2020. It showed that Amazon warehouse workers were 50 percent more likely to sustain serious injuries than those who don’t use robots.

The report states that Amazon increased workers’ quotas by using robots.

They now scan 400 items per hour, up from 100 previously. The report states that “the data backs up the accounts from Amazon warehouse workers and ex-safety professionals who claim the company has used robots to increase production quotas until the point where humans can’t maintain without hurting themselves.”

It was revealed in July that the US government was investigating Amazon for alleged unsafe work conditions. Inspections were conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that were “related, between other things, to Amazon’s required pace for work for its warehouse workers.”

Amazon announced Sparrow amid a drive to unionize warehouse workers. In some cases, robots are taking over certain tasks. Workers at the JFK8 fulfillment center on Staten Island voted in March to unionize. This was the first Amazon warehouse to do this. The company challenged the results of the election. Recently workers at an Albany warehouse in New York voted against unionization following an anti-union campaign by Amazon.