Retailer Amazon has introduced a new warehouse robot, Vulcan, which is capable of performing tasks that were previously done only by humans. The company emphasizes that this development is not intended to fully replace employees, but aims to make work safer and create new professions in the field of robotics.
This is reported by Business • Media
The Vulcan robot can pick items from both upper and lower shelves, reducing the risk of injury for staff. At the same time, Amazon offers its employees retraining programs to prepare them for new operations that are currently beyond the capabilities of AI. The company highlighted that a key focus is on training some employees for the maintenance of such systems.
“These robots, which participate in fulfilling 75% of customer orders, have created hundreds of new job categories at Amazon.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated that the company offers retraining programs that will allow employees to transition from simple positions to more complex engineering roles. Although these new roles may not completely replace the former ones, the company notes that a significant number of new jobs have already been created.
However, experts express concern that even with full automation, significant job growth should not be expected. Not all employees will be ready or able to become robotics specialists. Analysts believe that the number of new vacancies will be less than the jobs that will be displaced by automation.
Some specialists predict the emergence of new professions, such as “automation controller,” which will replace traditional roles like salespeople and cooks. This will require employees to have digital literacy, even if they do not have specialized education.
It is worth noting that Microsoft experts believe AI is currently not capable of fully replacing programmers.