MAROKO133 Breaking ai: Robots may replace 600,000 humans at Amazon warehouses by 2033, lea

📌 MAROKO133 Eksklusif ai: Robots may replace 600,000 humans at Amazon warehouses b

Amazon has been using robots in its warehouses for over a decade and plans to increase automation even further. A New York Times report on Monday reveals the company is looking to expand its robot workforce, potentially reducing the need for human employees.

Internal documents suggest Amazon aims to replace up to 600,000 jobs with robots by 2033.

The report does not clarify if this will lead to widespread layoffs. However, using more robots would allow the company to meet growing demand without hiring additional workers.

“Leaked documents often paint an incomplete and misleading picture of our plans, and that’s the case here,” an Amazon spokesperson told CNET.

“In this instance, the materials appear to reflect the perspective of just one team and don’t represent our overall hiring strategy across our various operations business lines — now or moving forward.”

The spokesperson added that Amazon continues to create jobs. “No company has created more jobs in America over the past decade than Amazon,” they said. The company is actively hiring, with 250,000 positions planned for the holiday season.

The impact on human jobs

Amazon is the third-largest employer in the US, behind the federal government and Walmart. It employs roughly 1.5 million people, mostly in warehouses or as delivery drivers.

Only a few US companies have more than 600,000 employees. By comparison, FedEx has about 550,000 workers.

Studies show that each robot added per 1,000 workers reduces wages by 0.42%, leading to the loss of approximately 400,000 jobs in the US.

The NY Times report indicates Amazon’s automation push could replace more than half a million positions. The company aims to automate about 75% of its operations.

How automation works in Amazon warehouses

Amazon has already implemented large-scale automation in some facilities. In Shreveport, Louisiana, a thousand robots handle much of the packing and shipping.

This reduces the workforce by 25% compared to a fully human-operated warehouse. By 2026, that facility will require only half as many employees as it would have without robots.

Amazon plans to replicate this model in roughly 40 more facilities by the end of 2027. The company is also promoting jobs in technical maintenance for the robots. These roles require specialized skills and less overall labor.

Corporate strategy and worker concerns

Internal documents show Amazon wants to soften the public perception of automation. The company is considering community outreach and changing the language of its communications. Terms like “automation,” “AI,” and “robot” may be replaced with “advanced technology” or “cobot” to emphasize collaboration with humans.

CEO Andy Jassy and other executives face pressure from Amazon’s board to “do more with less.” The automation push may disproportionately affect Black workers, who are overrepresented in Amazon’s warehouses, according to the NY Times.

“For years and years, they were really investing for growth, and in the last three years the company’s focus has shifted to efficiencies,” according to Wall Street analyst Justin Post.

For shareholders, robots offer another advantage—they cannot unionize. Amazon has previously had conflicts with organized labor. In September, the company ended contracts affecting 150 unionized drivers in New York, which some critics called retaliation for striking.

Amazon continues to balance growth with automation, aiming to sell twice as many products by 2033 while relying increasingly on robots.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com

📌 MAROKO133 Eksklusif ai: 1,300-year-old dried feces reveal diseases that plagued

DNA analysis of 1,100 to 1,300-year-old dried human feces has provided insights into the pathogens that afflicted ancient Mexican people. 

The team led by Indiana University in the US analyzed ten samples of ancient dried human feces uncovered from Mexico’s Cave of the Dead Children (La Cueva de Los Muertos Chiquitos). 

“Working with these ancient samples was like opening a biological time capsule, with each one revealing insight into human health and daily life from over a thousand years ago,” said Drew Capone, the study author, in a press release on October 22.

Pathogen identification

The feces sample belonged to the Loma San Gabriel people. 

This prehistoric group inhabited a major portion of northwest Mexico, encompassing what is now Durango, western Zacatecas, and southern Chihuahua.

Ancient feces are an important data source regarding the intestinal parasites that affected ancient human populations.

However, the degradation of microbial DNA with time has limited the scope of such analyses. 

To overcome this challenge, Capone and colleagues employed highly refined and sensitive fecal analysis techniques on ten samples of human feces.

The study successfully identified genetic signatures for a diverse collection of gut parasites within the ancient fecal samples. 

Among the notable discoveries were several pathogens never before detected in ancient feces, including the protozoan Blastocystis and multiple strains of the bacterium E. coli.

Other pathogens, such as pinworm, were especially prevalent and found in most analyzed samples. 

This evidence suggests that various intestinal parasites were common among the ancient people and points toward the potential for widespread intestinal infections in that population.

Proof-of-concept of the technique

The discovery of a high prevalence of gut parasites within the analyzed samples suggests that intestinal infections and poor sanitation were widespread among the Loma San Gabriel people. 

However, the study authors caution that these findings are based on just 10 fecal samples. 

They propose that future research involving a greater number of samples will be able to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of the full spectrum of pathogens that affected these ancient cultures.

Furthermore, identifying certain human-specific pathogens validates this DNA analysis technique as a reliable method for distinguishing human feces from the waste of other animal species.

“There is a lot of potential in the application of modern molecular methods to inform studies of the past. Highly sensitive and specific targeted assays can complement sequencing approaches when specific targets are of interest,” said Joe Brown, the study author. 

“We look forward to continuing this collaborative work to understand better the presence and movement of pathogens in ancient samples,” Brown added.  

This paleomicrobiology study shows how cutting-edge scientific techniques can reveal ancient populations’ previously hidden health histories.

A separate recent study analyzed the exceptionally well-preserved remains of a young adult male who died in Mexico 1,000 years ago. 

It led to identifying specific bacteria in the man’s gut, with some of these bacterial types also found in the modern human microbiome. 

The study was published in the journal PLOS One.

🔗 Sumber: interestingengineering.com