# Amazon Unveils AI-Powered Worker  ## Episode metadata - Episode title: Amazon Unveils AI-Powered Worker - Show: Hard Fork AI - Owner / Host: Hard Fork AI - Episode publish date: 2025-06-04 - Episode AI description: Explore the transformative potential of AI and robotics in the workplace. Discover how Amazon's innovations might reshape jobs and safety. The discussion highlights two contrasting futures: one where robots replace humans and another where they work alongside us. Emphasis is placed on the importance of upskilling and adaptability in this rapidly changing landscape. - Duration: 11:00 - Episode URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/episode/cf80f678-b831-4ae5-ab73-3077346cbe4b) - Show URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/show/c0c4ab99-35e1-455f-9fc9-cabaddab0720) - Export date: 2026-02-17T23:34:52 ## Snips ### [Two Futures for AI and Jobs](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f00a1c88-e00f-4ebd-8580-e46b80f56a26) 🎧 02:21 - 07:46 (05:24) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/5d729b7d-bd78-426d-8e21-dc971429fcd0" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - There are two visions for the future of work with AI: full job replacement by AI and robots, or AI as a companion augmenting human tasks. - The World Economic Forum predicts job displacement but also a net gain of 80 million new jobs due to AI and robotics. #### 💬 Quote > One of them is where essentially all jobs are getting replaced by AI...[and] another group of people that think that robots are essentially going to do kind of all of the boring, more mundane, heavy lifting tasks. > — Jaeden Schafer Jaeden Schafer on future of AI and jobs #### 📚 Transcript **Jaeden Schafer:** So the first thing I think I want to talk about is the fact that we have kind of these two different pathways that people are predicting are going to happen. So one of them is where essentially all jobs are getting replaced by AI and essentially AI-powered robots. Some people think that all jobs except for their own, the venture capitalist Mark Andreessen doesn't think that AI could ever replace his work as an investor or that could be automated. So that's kind of interesting. And so, you know, some people think it's going to essentially do everything maybe except for a handful of things. And there's another group of people that think that robots are essentially going to do kind of all of the boring, more mundane, heavy lifting tasks. And they'll kind of be like a human companion, kind of the way when, you know, we use ChatGPT. It's not like ChatGPT has replaced our job, but it's kind of augmented us. We use it alongside that. So some people feel like, you know, a robot will be kind of like what ChatGPT is for us right now, where it's kind of helping us, but it's not like it has replaced everything. It's not like ChatGPT does everything. We still just use it. So some people, a lot of people think that this is going to be more of what actually happens in the future. So the World Economic Forum predicted that about 92 million roles are going to be displaced by the current technology trends. So that's AI and robotics. But they predict that 170 million new jobs are going to be created. So, you know, net, we have almost 80 million new jobs coming out of that, if they're accurate. Now, TechCrunch wrote a whole article on this, and I just feel like they're, I don't know, I just feel so like condescending, sort of, their phrase when they refer to this all, but they say, for those who don't have the economic power or the intellectual interest to get a master's degree in AI and machine learning, especially the people who now occupy unskilled labor roles like warehouse workers, what does the bot-filled future look like for them? I don't know. It just feels like for all the dumb people doing menial labor, unlike us writers at TechCrunch who are super cool and college-educated master's degrees, what are the poor schlabs gonna do okay i know that's not what they're saying but i just really get that feeling from a lot of journalists and a lot of people writing about this so i just have to put my beef out there i think it's dumb i think that um amazon has given a clear path for a lot of people that are currently warehouse workers and it's not a terrible one um i think there's a lot of exciting things that are going to go on in the future and like honestly warehouse workers at like amazon or anywhere else, for example, it's like this, not all of them are there for life. I have lots of friends that do, you know, work in where Amazon warehouses, they go work there for a couple years as they're saving up for college or doing things or working on their career, or maybe they want to be a forklift driver and be there forever. And it pays great. I don't know. I don't think this is a career to look down on. So whatever. But robots are replacing a lot of this. So I do think that we're making some obviously some big shifts. What are those people going to do? The reason I bring up the I don't know the other stuff is because like just because someone's working in a warehouse that doesn't mean they're dumb like like Ted Crunch is like for those that don't have the intellectual desire. I'm like, come on, these, these aren't dumb people. It's just what they're just doing a job. probably pays good for what they need. And it's for that phase of their life, whatever. So they're not dumb people. They can do lots of other things. They're smart people. And what other things could they do? Amazon says that they can work on the robots that are coming. So, um, what, when Amazon revealed their big new Vulcan robot, which is apparently doing 70% of everything happening in the warehouses, it says, quote, Vulcan is helping make work safer by handling ergonomically challenging tasks while creating opportunities for our teammates to grow their skills in robotic maintenance. So that was the CEO, Andy JC, he posted over on X, that was his Twitter post. So on the one hand, Vulcan is replacing a ton of people. And on the other hand, they said that there is a lot of new jobs that are going to be created. So the robots, they're able to get lower shelves than humans can. They're making it so humans don't have to climb ladders or bend down all day long, hurt their backs. I just think at the end of the day, this is probably a great thing. And then they also talk about how they're going to be training warehouse workers to become robot technicians. And essentially, the robot is going to be more picking stuff out, and people are going to be working on the robots. Because the robots, if we're being honest, it's, they're doing about 75% of all the customer order fulfillment. So they're capable of doing virtually everything. They also said that they're, they're self, um, educating and improving, but thanks to AI embedded in them. so they're getting better and better. You can imagine that eventually these things are just gonna be able to get everything. And, but we're going to need a lot of people to work on these robots to fix them. TechCrunch writers seem to think that the warehouse workers won't be smart enough to do it. Amazon seems to think that the warehouse workers will be. I'm going to side with Amazon here since they're current employers. So Amazon, the one thing that they do get criticism on is that it's obviously not going to be a one-to conversion, right? It's not like everyone that works a warehouse is going to get a job there. I mean, I think that's just the future. Also, not every warehouse in America is Amazon with like a million robots. And so I think that, well, eventually we will have a lot of warehouse work automated by robots. If someone got laid off today, they could go somewhere else at a different warehouse that doesn't have this. So I think in the short term, we'll --- ### [Amazon’s Positive View on Upskilling](https://share.snipd.com/snip/7c66f63c-9d4a-4dfb-a6a1-cefd588e35ba) 🎧 05:23 - 07:13 (01:49) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/b07def03-1e8c-4f26-9f9f-4effb9bbfbc5" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Amazon sees warehouse robots as a way to make work safer and create new jobs for robot maintenance. - Warehouse workers can be trained to become robot technicians, showing faith in their ability to upskill. #### 💬 Quote > Amazon says that they can work on the robots that are coming... Vulcan is helping make work safer...while creating opportunities for our teammates to grow their skills in robotic maintenance. > — Jaeden Schafer Jaeden Schafer discussing Amazon’s view on robots and warehouse workers #### 📚 Transcript **Jaeden Schafer:** I'm like, come on, these, these aren't dumb people. It's just what they're just doing a job. probably pays good for what they need. And it's for that phase of their life, whatever. So they're not dumb people. They can do lots of other things. They're smart people. And what other things could they do? Amazon says that they can work on the robots that are coming. So, um, what, when Amazon revealed their big new Vulcan robot, which is apparently doing 70% of everything happening in the warehouses, it says, quote, Vulcan is helping make work safer by handling ergonomically challenging tasks while creating opportunities for our teammates to grow their skills in robotic maintenance. So that was the CEO, Andy JC, he posted over on X, that was his Twitter post. So on the one hand, Vulcan is replacing a ton of people. And on the other hand, they said that there is a lot of new jobs that are going to be created. So the robots, they're able to get lower shelves than humans can. They're making it so humans don't have to climb ladders or bend down all day long, hurt their backs. I just think at the end of the day, this is probably a great thing. And then they also talk about how they're going to be training warehouse workers to become robot technicians. And essentially, the robot is going to be more picking stuff out, and people are going to be working on the robots. Because the robots, if we're being honest, it's, they're doing about 75% of all the customer order fulfillment. So they're capable of doing virtually everything. They also said that they're, they're self, um, educating and improving, but thanks to AI embedded in them. so they're getting better and better. You can imagine that eventually these things are just gonna be able to get everything. And, but we're going to need a lot of people to work on these robots to fix them. TechCrunch writers seem to think that the warehouse workers won't be smart enough to do it. Amazon seems to think that the warehouse workers will be. --- ### [Focus on Upskilling for AI Future](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ad86b13e-957d-4d1d-928f-458f14cda193) 🎧 07:56 - 08:23 (00:27) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/ad165be8-da81-4639-97f4-170d241cacbc" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - People should proactively focus on upskilling and reskilling to adapt to AI and robotics changes. - Taking courses and learning new skills is crucial to seize emerging job opportunities. #### 💬 Quote > I think everyone needs to start focusing on that. I don't think that's a big scary thing... people should start working on upskilling themselves and, you know, going to take classes and courses. > — Jaeden Schafer Jaeden Schafer advising listeners on adapting to AI-driven job changes #### 📚 Transcript **Jaeden Schafer:** So I think everyone needs to start focusing on that. I don't think that's a big scary thing. Now, I personally think, like if we're looking at the numbers from the World Economic Forum, 80 million new jobs are going to be created. I think that there's a lot to do. I think that there's a lot of new things that are going to be needed. And so people should start working on upskilling themselves and, you know, going to take classes and courses on all this kind of stuff. And I think there's going to be a lot of opportunity there. --- ### [Human Fulfillment Beyond Robots](https://share.snipd.com/snip/c03283a0-3cd5-4c1f-97c9-1816eef84c44) 🎧 08:40 - 09:04 (00:23) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/0fbf23a0-48a2-45c3-a09d-6363c421be29" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Complete job replacement by robots with universal welfare is seen as unlikely and undesirable. - People find fulfillment in work, creativity, and will pursue new forms of value beyond traditional jobs. #### 💬 Quote > People find fulfillment in their jobs and in their work and in creative processes. > — Jaeden Schafer Jaeden Schafer on why universal welfare for all displaced workers is not the desired future #### 📚 Transcript **Jaeden Schafer:** People find fulfillment in their jobs and in their work and in creative processes. If you laid off and you don't want to go work on being a robot mechanic, maybe you do art or whatever else, music, whatever else inspires you. So I think that there'll be a lot of, and I think there's going to be value and a demand for stuff. So I think people will be fine. I think the world is going to be fine. One thing I wanted to mention is that Amazon is obviously very bullish on this. --- ### [Current Limits of AI Automation](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5165bc3f-bd0c-40a7-8157-e7bfa79350de) 🎧 09:04 - 10:20 (01:16) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/4b6880ef-2571-47c9-9946-0a43ebf0047c" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Many advanced AI and robotics projects, like Amazon Go and self-driving cars, still rely on human intervention. - Full automation is not here yet; mass displacement of jobs by AI won’t happen overnight. #### 💬 Quote > Amazon itself scaled that back once everyone found out that mostly it was literally just people in India watching cameras... It wasn't like AI was doing it all. It wasn't perfect. > — Jaeden Schafer Jaeden Schafer explaining current limitations of AI in real-world applications #### 📚 Transcript **Jaeden Schafer:** And I think we have to take everything with a bit of a grain of salt. I personally think it's only a matter of time before robotics. And I think it's, you know, evident that robotics will replace a lot. AI will replace a lot, but it doesn't mean it's happening tomorrow because Amazon, if you remember, was super bullish on their Amazon Go technology, which was essentially you walk into a store, grab whatever you want, you walk out and it just bills you to your Amazon account. And they were trying to sell it to a bunch of other retailers. No one else really wanted to buy it. I think a lot of people just felt like Amazon was their big competitor. They didn't want to give them another, I don't know, more revenue pretty much. Amazon itself scaled that back once everyone found out that mostly it was literally just people in India watching cameras to see what you grab, and they were self-labeling the items. So it still required people to be working. It like AI was doing it all. It perfect. I think we see a lot from self-driving car companies where some self-driving robo companies, can't remember if it was Waymo, but kind of got not exposed, but they found out that like if the car can't figure out what to do, someone in India or in a, you know, in another country is essentially watching and like takes over control of the car and drives it. And so it's not like completely AI autonomous self-driving. So anyways, I think we're not like a hundred percent there on a lot of this technology. --- Created with [Snipd](https://www.snipd.com) | Highlight & Take Notes from Podcasts