Amazon workers are supervised by AI
If the system determines the employee is failing to meet production targets, it can automatically issue warnings and terminate contracts without a supervisor’s intervention
Documents obtained by The Verge show how Amazon uses a computer system to automatically track and fire hundreds of fulfillment center employees for failing to meet productivity quotas — a grim glimpse of a future in which AI is your boss, writes Futurism.com.
According to Business Insider, Amazon has fired more than 300 workers at a single facility in Baltimore in a single year. Amazon’s system tracks several metrics, including “time off task,” meaning how much time workers pause or take breaks.
If the system determines the employee is failing to meet production targets, it can automatically issue warnings and terminate contracts without a supervisor’s intervention, although Amazon said that a human supervisor can override the system.
While all employees in every job know they could be fired if they fail to meet their performance objectives, few of us are managed by an automated system tracking our every movement that has full authority to make that decision.
Critics say that Amazon treats workers like robots, who are monitored and supervised by these automated systems.
Regardless, Amazon’s fulfillment centers have seen a lot of automation over the past decade. A complex system of warehouse robots have been replacing jobs — while also sometimes creating new ones.
More Amazon news
Amazon lifts ban on shipping of non-essential products
Amazon is going to start accepting all non-essential products again Amazon has started to allow third-party sellers to ship non-essential items to its warehouses. Starting later this week, the company will begin to accept more products in its warehouses,...
Amazon halts its Shipping Program
Amazon to halt third-party delivery service that competes with UPS and FedEx Amazon is taking a break from its two-year-old Amazon Shipping pilot program in the U.S.—in a move seen as potentially benefiting package giants UPS and FedEx. The company...
Amazon Pauses Merchant Loan Repayments
Amazon suspends loan repayments amid coronavirus Amazon announced that it would temporarily suspend seller loan repayments, in the prospect of declining sales during the coronavirus pandemic. Repayments under the Amazon Lending program will be paused until...
