The talent crisis, expedited by the pandemic and the Great Resignation, has seen several companies rethinking their workforce management strategies.
In a Wired article, Will Knight notes that rushing to adopt more automation won’t necessarily solve the employee shortage.
“Amazon has invested heavily in warehouse robots already. But the machines only automate work that requires limited intelligence,” explains the author.
However, he notes that the future of robots is promising as AI and machine learning continue to make robots far more capable.
Other robotics experts, such as Matt Beane, an assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara, are also optimistic about the future of warehouse automation.
“I’m not aware of a single person that has lost their job because of some AI-enabled robot. That’s not to say it hasn’t happened, but it’s just far too rare and far too experimental,” he added.
Do you think robots will eventually help close the warehouse worker gap?
