Are You Bot or Not?

“Amazon is so convinced this automated future is around the corner that it has started developing plans to mitigate the fallout in communities that may lose jobs. Documents show the company has considered building an image as a ‘good corporate citizen’ through greater participation in community events such as parades and Toys for Tots. The documents contemplate avoiding using terms like ‘automation’ and ‘A.I.’ when discussing robotics, and instead use terms like ‘advanced technology’ or replace the word ‘robot’ with ‘cobot,’ which implies collaboration with humans.” NYT (Gift Article): Amazon Plans to Replace More Than Half a Million Jobs With Robots. “Amazon has said it has a million robots at work around the globe, and it believes the humans who take care of them will be the jobs of the future.” (After all these years taking care of a couple beagles, taking care of a million robots ought to be a breeze.)