Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, Radio News Emily. I don't know if you saw this earlier, but Amazon is reportedly developing smart eyeglasses to guide its delivery drivers around and within buildings. This according to Reuters, who cited five people familiar with the matter. If these work, glasses would navigate drivers on a small embedded screen along routes and at each stop. The ideas that it aims to reduce delivery time.

Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, Radio News Emily. I don't know if you saw this earlier, but Amazon is reportedly developing smart eyeglasses to guide its delivery drivers around and within buildings. This according to Reuters, who cited five people familiar with the matter. If these work, glasses would navigate drivers on a small embedded screen along routes and at each stop. The ideas that it aims to reduce delivery time.

What do you think so because you see it in your vision field instead of having a look onto the dashboard of the truck runder or.

What do you think so because you see it in your vision field instead of having a look onto the dashboard of the truck runder or.

No, or when you're walking around holding a package, you're like, Okay, this is exactly the house it needs to be delivered to.

No, or when you're walking around holding a package, you're like, Okay, this is exactly the house it needs to be delivered to.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kind of a cool little USh for I should note. An Amazon spokesperson told Reuters it is continuously innovating to create an even safer and better delivery experience for its drivers, but it would not compliment comment on its product roadmap.

Kind of a cool little USh for I should note. An Amazon spokesperson told Reuters it is continuously innovating to create an even safer and better delivery experience for its drivers, but it would not compliment comment on its product roadmap.

I want to see, like a prototype, what they would look like.

I want to see, like a prototype, what they would look like.

I think this is a real use case for smart you know, for like the Google glass type thing. They've been used for quite a while. They never caught on with consumers. They're trying to make that happen at Snap and at Meta. Still we'll see if it happens, but the industrial use case is certainly interesting. We got with us Ty Brady's chief technologist for robotics at Amazon.

I think this is a real use case for smart you know, for like the Google glass type thing. They've been used for quite a while. They never caught on with consumers. They're trying to make that happen at Snap and at Meta. Still we'll see if it happens, but the industrial use case is certainly interesting. We got with us Ty Brady's chief technologist for robotics at Amazon.

Tie.

Tie.

I'm not gonna put you on the spot and ask you to comment about this report because we already got a comment from an Amazon spokesperson, but it does talk a little bit about innovation happening at Amazon. I know you guys did this interesting survey with MIT on what AI could mean for workers. Before we get to that, just give our viewers our listeners an idea of the role that robotics play right now at Amazon.

I'm not gonna put you on the spot and ask you to comment about this report because we already got a comment from an Amazon spokesperson, but it does talk a little bit about innovation happening at Amazon. I know you guys did this interesting survey with MIT on what AI could mean for workers. Before we get to that, just give our viewers our listeners an idea of the role that robotics play right now at Amazon.

Well, first of all, it's a pleasure to be here, and thank you for having me onre I really appreciate it. Boy. I'll tell you the age of physical AI is here and it is really proving useful for our customers. We have our robotic systems inside of our fulfillment centers. We actually just roll our next generation fulfillment center down in Louisiana and we're seeing a lot of returns and gains on that.

Well, first of all, it's a pleasure to be here, and thank you for having me onre I really appreciate it. Boy. I'll tell you the age of physical AI is here and it is really proving useful for our customers. We have our robotic systems inside of our fulfillment centers. We actually just roll our next generation fulfillment center down in Louisiana and we're seeing a lot of returns and gains on that.

Is this the Kiva system that Amazon bought over a decade ago.

Is this the Kiva system that Amazon bought over a decade ago.

Wait, it's based on that. That is part of it. What we do is that we have robotics that can move goods, that's part of the Kiva systems, but also robotics to store goods and sword goods and identify all the various goods. And we have this in this next generation fulfillment center where we have ten times the amount of robotics that we've ever had under one roof, and we're already seeing that we can process those orders twenty five percent faster and also pass along to a lower cost to our customers.

Wait, it's based on that. That is part of it. What we do is that we have robotics that can move goods, that's part of the Kiva systems, but also robotics to store goods and sword goods and identify all the various goods. And we have this in this next generation fulfillment center where we have ten times the amount of robotics that we've ever had under one roof, and we're already seeing that we can process those orders twenty five percent faster and also pass along to a lower cost to our customers.

Just proving just so we understand when when we order something on Amazon using the app or using the browser, does a robot now pick that item at fulfillment center? Is it still a human being?

Just proving just so we understand when when we order something on Amazon using the app or using the browser, does a robot now pick that item at fulfillment center? Is it still a human being?

Yeah, it's It's an amazing, amazing series of events that actually happens. When you go on Amazon dot com. You're getting your holiday order redder ready. Of course, want to have the world's the largest selection of good for our goods for our customers. We want to process that at a low cost and then have the ultimate customer convenience, and robotics is helping all along that way. Right, people and machines working together, we have AI systems that source that put the right products in the right area so that can be closer to our customers. That helps on our delivery times. We have robots that move safely around people, that we inbound those goods into our buildings where it can take on more goods, put more goods in the same footprint as we've had as compared to our manual buildings. We can store actually forty percent more goods, and then we have robotic systems that help sort and even package those items for our customers. All this is so that we can just have the ultimate in customer convenience and get the right good to right to the customer's door.

Yeah, it's It's an amazing, amazing series of events that actually happens. When you go on Amazon dot com. You're getting your holiday order redder ready. Of course, want to have the world's the largest selection of good for our goods for our customers. We want to process that at a low cost and then have the ultimate customer convenience, and robotics is helping all along that way. Right, people and machines working together, we have AI systems that source that put the right products in the right area so that can be closer to our customers. That helps on our delivery times. We have robots that move safely around people, that we inbound those goods into our buildings where it can take on more goods, put more goods in the same footprint as we've had as compared to our manual buildings. We can store actually forty percent more goods, and then we have robotic systems that help sort and even package those items for our customers. All this is so that we can just have the ultimate in customer convenience and get the right good to right to the customer's door.

Ty, what is a twenty twenty four robotics system and how is that different than the systems that we saw ten fifteen years ago. I'm just thinking about how you to watch that show how it's made, and it would show factories and there were always robots working in the factories and moving things along conveyor about So what is so different about, you know, the twenty twenty four robotics.

Ty, what is a twenty twenty four robotics system and how is that different than the systems that we saw ten fifteen years ago. I'm just thinking about how you to watch that show how it's made, and it would show factories and there were always robots working in the factories and moving things along conveyor about So what is so different about, you know, the twenty twenty four robotics.

That's such a great question. We have really seen just just huge advancements over the last few years when it comes to robotics. This is why we call it physical AI. It's really the embodiment of adaptive behavior in our robotic systems. But our robotics systems shouldn't be viewed as singular and as alone as just machines. Instead, what we do is we build our machines to extend human capability. We build our machines to augment folks to do their jobs better and create a safer environment for them. We've seen those benefits in the last four years with regards to safety and also in regards to the efficiencies and the productivities. But the big you know, I could talk about more and more of the robotics that we've seen, but we also have to I think the big mindset is when you reframe your relationship with machines. Yeah, people first attitude towards of how we build those machines that allows people to do more. And now we are upscaling. We put one point two billion dollars into an upscaling pledge for our employees. And then we, as Tim said, we funded this independent study with MIT in order to understand the perception of technology and how people adopt machines and AI into their work environment.

That's such a great question. We have really seen just just huge advancements over the last few years when it comes to robotics. This is why we call it physical AI. It's really the embodiment of adaptive behavior in our robotic systems. But our robotics systems shouldn't be viewed as singular and as alone as just machines. Instead, what we do is we build our machines to extend human capability. We build our machines to augment folks to do their jobs better and create a safer environment for them. We've seen those benefits in the last four years with regards to safety and also in regards to the efficiencies and the productivities. But the big you know, I could talk about more and more of the robotics that we've seen, but we also have to I think the big mindset is when you reframe your relationship with machines. Yeah, people first attitude towards of how we build those machines that allows people to do more. And now we are upscaling. We put one point two billion dollars into an upscaling pledge for our employees. And then we, as Tim said, we funded this independent study with MIT in order to understand the perception of technology and how people adopt machines and AI into their work environment.

So Let's talk a little bit about that, because I think you hit on a really important point here, and it's the idea that and I was kind of joking about this a little while ago. I was like, can these robots be programmed to love? But the fact is is you do have to be comfortable being around automated things that could look like humanoids. They might not look like humanoid robots. What did you find through this collaboration with MIT about how people want to interact or need to learn how to interact with machines.

So Let's talk a little bit about that, because I think you hit on a really important point here, and it's the idea that and I was kind of joking about this a little while ago. I was like, can these robots be programmed to love? But the fact is is you do have to be comfortable being around automated things that could look like humanoids. They might not look like humanoid robots. What did you find through this collaboration with MIT about how people want to interact or need to learn how to interact with machines.

It was a fascinating study. It was actually groundbreaking. MIT enlisted to IPSOS to survey more than nine thousand people across nine different countries to understand how they perceive technology, because perception is really important to adoption, even to innovation. Right, as I said, we put people at the center of the robotics universe. We really want to understand how people and if they will adopt technologies. And broadly we found the study found that a majority of people see robots having a positive impact on their pay and on their career. And there's three key three key findings that came along with that. First of all, if people are asked to work at a higher level and can focus on higher order tasking. Then they're more keen to adopt technology, and they're more optimistic when it comes to the use of the technology for their own career goals in their own pay. The second is if they felt valued by their employer. Right, So being valued is both are you working in a safe environment and do you have a great benefits in pay And Amazon we're really proud of the benefits and pay that we offer our employees, and also through automation, we're actually reducing the number of recordable injuries significantly over the past four years. And then the last part is really those that want to learn more and take control of their career. So if they want to learn and grow in their career, they're more optimistic for technologies. And that was really good good news for us as we put in one point two billion dollars into upskilling our employees. So they're good signals. But we're not done yet because this is across many many workers, across many industries, and we're going to follow on the study actually a survey of our Amazon employees directly because we're always interested in the voice of our customer, the voice of our employees, and we always want to make this safe for more productive environment.

It was a fascinating study. It was actually groundbreaking. MIT enlisted to IPSOS to survey more than nine thousand people across nine different countries to understand how they perceive technology, because perception is really important to adoption, even to innovation. Right, as I said, we put people at the center of the robotics universe. We really want to understand how people and if they will adopt technologies. And broadly we found the study found that a majority of people see robots having a positive impact on their pay and on their career. And there's three key three key findings that came along with that. First of all, if people are asked to work at a higher level and can focus on higher order tasking. Then they're more keen to adopt technology, and they're more optimistic when it comes to the use of the technology for their own career goals in their own pay. The second is if they felt valued by their employer. Right, So being valued is both are you working in a safe environment and do you have a great benefits in pay And Amazon we're really proud of the benefits and pay that we offer our employees, and also through automation, we're actually reducing the number of recordable injuries significantly over the past four years. And then the last part is really those that want to learn more and take control of their career. So if they want to learn and grow in their career, they're more optimistic for technologies. And that was really good good news for us as we put in one point two billion dollars into upskilling our employees. So they're good signals. But we're not done yet because this is across many many workers, across many industries, and we're going to follow on the study actually a survey of our Amazon employees directly because we're always interested in the voice of our customer, the voice of our employees, and we always want to make this safe for more productive environment.

What's a takeaway that you had from the survey about how you're going to either design or implement robotics across Amazon, Like, what's one actionable thing you took away from this?

What's a takeaway that you had from the survey about how you're going to either design or implement robotics across Amazon, Like, what's one actionable thing you took away from this?

Well, the first action that we had is that we actually want to fund more studies. We want to fund the study, particularly for Amazon employees, so we can hear directly for them of their perception and how robotics is really augmenting and extending the capability. So we are the voice of the customers. Our first actual takeaway that we have from the study. The second is really validation of our philosophy that of putting people the center of the robotics universe. Right, It's this validation of augmentation and extension and allowing people to do what they do well, thinking with common sense and reasoning and really understanding the problem at hand. People do this amazingly well. So our job as roboticist is to complement that amazing skill that our employees have that people have with machines that can be better designed. So very concretely, for example, we have a robot called Proteus that is free roaming inside of our fulfillment centers that moves goods on demand, and it understands where people want to be, and people can look at the robot and understand what the intent of that robot is. So its job is to move these vessels of goods to our dock doors safely, and it's fully around people. Right. So the concrete actual thing is here is that we are getting this really strong validation that by extending and augmenting human capability, not only can we and more productive, but we can also create a safer environment.

Well, the first action that we had is that we actually want to fund more studies. We want to fund the study, particularly for Amazon employees, so we can hear directly for them of their perception and how robotics is really augmenting and extending the capability. So we are the voice of the customers. Our first actual takeaway that we have from the study. The second is really validation of our philosophy that of putting people the center of the robotics universe. Right, It's this validation of augmentation and extension and allowing people to do what they do well, thinking with common sense and reasoning and really understanding the problem at hand. People do this amazingly well. So our job as roboticist is to complement that amazing skill that our employees have that people have with machines that can be better designed. So very concretely, for example, we have a robot called Proteus that is free roaming inside of our fulfillment centers that moves goods on demand, and it understands where people want to be, and people can look at the robot and understand what the intent of that robot is. So its job is to move these vessels of goods to our dock doors safely, and it's fully around people. Right. So the concrete actual thing is here is that we are getting this really strong validation that by extending and augmenting human capability, not only can we and more productive, but we can also create a safer environment.

We don't have a ton of time left, but I'm curious when you talk to Amazon employees, what are some of the biggest concerns that they have when it comes to robotics in action.

We don't have a ton of time left, but I'm curious when you talk to Amazon employees, what are some of the biggest concerns that they have when it comes to robotics in action.

Yeah, well, we always think about the voice of the customer first and foremost. It is one thing in order to do like a robotic system in your lab and convince yourself that it's going to work in the lab. But when we roll out what we call our alpha and beta employments with our customers, we get first hand their quotes of what is working and what is not working. We should build our machines too that you can reasonably and tangibly use the machine in very intuitive ways. Right, You shouldn't have to have eighteen degrees in order to figure out how to use the machines, And we get that feedback quite often to say, it needs to be simpler, it needs to be less complex, and it needs to have the utility in order to extend and complement human creativity.

Yeah, well, we always think about the voice of the customer first and foremost. It is one thing in order to do like a robotic system in your lab and convince yourself that it's going to work in the lab. But when we roll out what we call our alpha and beta employments with our customers, we get first hand their quotes of what is working and what is not working. We should build our machines too that you can reasonably and tangibly use the machine in very intuitive ways. Right, You shouldn't have to have eighteen degrees in order to figure out how to use the machines, And we get that feedback quite often to say, it needs to be simpler, it needs to be less complex, and it needs to have the utility in order to extend and complement human creativity.

We're going to have to We're going to have to leave it there. Ty, do appreciate you joining us. Ty Brady, chief technologist for robotics over at Amazon, joining us this afternoon from Boston

We're going to have to We're going to have to leave it there. Ty, do appreciate you joining us. Ty Brady, chief technologist for robotics over at Amazon, joining us this afternoon from Boston