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The article doesn't mention it in the first few paragraphs but these delivery robots are not autonomous, they're controlled by people, usually in a different co
by ipsum2 7y ago
The article doesn't mention it in the first few paragraphs but these delivery robots are not autonomous, they're controlled by people, usually in a different country.
Here's an article detailing Kiwi's approach. Every other delivery robot is the basically the same.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Kiwibots-win-fans-at-UC-Berkeley-as-they-deliver-13895867.php?psid=8hcdb#photo-17543383 https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Kiwibots-win-fa...
> The Kiwibots do not figure out their own routes. Instead, people in Colombia, the home country of Chavez and his two co-founders, plot “waypoints” for the bots to follow, sending them instructions every five to 10 seconds on where to go.
> As with other offshoring arrangements, the labor savings are huge. The Colombia workers, who can each handle up to three robots, make less than $2 an hour, which is above the local minimum wage.
- jkaljundi 7y agoActually no, Starship is like 99% autonomous and self-driving, and just a few % of special cases are handled manually by the operators.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mattigames 7y agoHe is talking about the other company mentioned, "Kiwibot"
- icebraining 7y agoBut he also wrote "Every other delivery robot is the basically the same."
- ipsum2 7y agoDo you have a source for this? I haven't heard of any delivery company truly being 99% autonomous.
- michaelbuckbee 7y agoThis is a really clear example of the "automation isn't replacing, it's augmenting" trend that is just going to continue to grow. I think this is what we're going to see in more and more sectors: automation making it so that there is a 3x to 10x increase in productivity by making a few people hyper-productive.
- stri8ed 7y agoDoesn't augmenting imply replacing at least a big percentage of workers?
- makomk 7y agoThis seems more like a clear example of the "automation is just a smokescreen for moving the jobs to countries with lower cost-of-living and pay" trend.
- lopmotr 7y agoIsn't that a good thing? If cost of living can be reduced by having more jobs available in low cost of living places, then everyone wins (except landlords). That's also one of the arguments for working from home or "revitalizing" a small town by a big company moving in.
- sharemywin 7y agoand the people that had a delivery job.