Future Timeline

Equity, the performing arts workers union, has launched a new campaign, "Stop AI Stealing the Show".

AI can use samples of an actor's voice or face, to generate content including so-called "deep fakes".

"From automated audiobooks to digital avatars, AI systems are now replacing skilled professional performers" the union says.

funkervogt wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 12:05 pm

Equity, the performing arts workers union, has launched a new campaign, "Stop AI Stealing the Show".

AI can use samples of an actor's voice or face, to generate content including so-called "deep fakes".

"From automated audiobooks to digital avatars, AI systems are now replacing skilled professional performers" the union says.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61166272

(TechCrunch) The push behind the massive influx of warehouse robotics funding is largely driven by one entity: Amazon. There are other factors driving the industry, of course, including the pandemic, labor shortages and supply chain constraints, but Amazon is forever looming in the corner, forcing companies to adopt creative and innovative ways to remain competitive. Not even a force of nature like Walmart is immune.

While Amazon has a head start in this department, dating back to its 2012 purchase of Kiva Systems, Walmart has been working aggressively on automation in recent years — though its own track record has been a bit spotty, most notably in the case of Bossa Nova, which has gone quiet since the company abandoned its shelf-scanning systems.

Massachusetts-based Symbotic has had considerably better luck. Late last year, the company announced its intentions to go public via SPAC, in large part based on momentum from an ongoing deal with Walmart that brought its warehouse robotics to 25 of the mega-retailer’s distribution/fulfillment centers. Today, the pair announced an expansion of the deal that will install Symbotic systems into all of Walmart’s distribution centers in the U.S. — that’s 42 in all.

While Walmart clearly has faith in the systems, it’s not an overnight deal. Symbotic says the retrofitting rollout will take more than 8 years to complete. It’s safe to say both the retail and robotics landscapes are on track to look extremely different in just under a decade.

“The need for accuracy and speed in the supply chain has never been more visible, and we’re confident that now is the time to move even faster by scaling Symbotic’s technology to our entire regional distribution center network,” Walmart SVP says in a release. “Using high-speed robotics and intelligent software to organize and optimize inventory, the Symbotic System helps us get products to our customers quickly and seamlessly by revolutionizing how we receive and distribute products to stores.”

Warehouse workers don't have an easy job. In an on-demand fulfillment economy the work is ceaseless, the pay low, and the drive for efficiency brutal. Earlier this year the Department of Labor even stepped in with an initiative attempting to safeguard warehouse workers' rights.

Add to that the resigned inevitability hovering over many of these jobs. Robots, already prominent in logistics operations, are steadily taking on tasks that previously required humans, including in the crucial final stage of picking and sorting.

One example, at a warehouse in Novato some miles north of San Francisco, Zenni Optical is assigning a crucial stage of e-commerce fulfillment to a team of three specially trained robots provided by OSARO. The deployment represents one of the first times a robot will be assigned the responsibility of working with an automated mechanical bagging system to ensure a customer's unique order is placed into the correct bag for shipment.

Amazon has unveiled its first fully autonomous mobile robot designed to help out at its distribution centers, though it’s not clear if it’ll be ready in time for the company’s fast-approaching and super-busy Prime Day shopping event.

The new robot, called Proteus, is a low-slung, wheel-based machine that trundles about on wheels. At first glance, and even second, it looks very much like a robot vacuum, but this device performs transportation tasks rather than cleaning duties. And just like a robot vacuum, Proteus uses sensors to help it navigate and avoid obstacles, including mobile ones such as humans.

As the video shows, Amazon’s new robot works by driving beneath a cart and then elevating to lift it off the ground. Proteus is then able to transport the cart to a designated destination.

Warehouse workers don't have an easy job. In an on-demand fulfillment economy the work is ceaseless, the pay low, and the drive for efficiency brutal. Earlier this year the Department of Labor even stepped in with an initiative attempting to safeguard warehouse workers' rights.

Add to that the resigned inevitability hovering over many of these jobs. Robots, already prominent in logistics operations, are steadily taking on tasks that previously required humans, including in the crucial final stage of picking and sorting.

Yuli Ban wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 6:47 pm

Warehouse workers don't have an easy job. In an on-demand fulfillment economy the work is ceaseless, the pay low, and the drive for efficiency brutal. Earlier this year the Department of Labor even stepped in with an initiative attempting to safeguard warehouse workers' rights.

Add to that the resigned inevitability hovering over many of these jobs. Robots, already prominent in logistics operations, are steadily taking on tasks that previously required humans, including in the crucial final stage of picking and sorting.