Amazon Deploys Robots To 'Free Up' Workers

Amazon has deployed a Digit series of humanoid robots in a warehouse trial in the United States, ostensibly to free up employees' time.

According to BBC, Amazon's decision to add the automated robots, which walk around on two legs, pick up large trays, and move them elsewhere, is aimed at "freeing up employees to better deliver for our customers."

The move is still a test, and the robots are a prototype, as Amazon wants to see if they can work safely alongside human employees. "It's an experiment that we're running to learn a little bit more about how we can use mobile robots and manipulators in our environment here at Amazon," Amazon Robotics' Scott Dresser explained to BBC.

Amazon has already faced criticism from labor unions. "Amazon's automation is [a] head-first race to job losses," said Stuart Richards, an organiser with the UK trade union GMB. "We've already seen hundreds of jobs disappear to it in fulfilment centres."