this post was submitted on 06 Jun 2025
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[–] ch00f@lemmy.world 134 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Amazon announced using drones in 2014. In pop culture, drone delivery is like an assumed common practice. Yet fucking nobody gets their packages delivered by drone. It's been over a decade.

These robots are vaporware. Amazon will get a stock bump and that's the whole point.

[–] Buckshot@programming.dev 35 points 6 days ago (12 children)

Yeah, humans regularly deliver stuff wrong on our street. There is no way robots will manage. I get packages for both by neighbours and they get mine more often than correct deliveries and one of my neighbours is a business.

[–] Dojan@pawb.social 12 points 6 days ago (1 children)

At my old workplace we ended up getting like a thousand toilet seats delivered to us. We were a web publishing firm.

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[–] mustbe3to20signs@feddit.org 105 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

Companies like Amazon would do anything. Except paying living wages

[–] NatakuNox@lemmy.world 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Remember that hitch hiking robot that made it across Canada but only made it to New Jersey (started in NYC) in America? These will 100% get the same treatment everywhere on earth.

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[–] NoForwardslashS@sopuli.xyz 45 points 6 days ago

Anything to avoid one of the richest people in the world paying his employees a livable wage.

[–] Spacehooks@reddthat.com 50 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Wanna bet its 7000 Indian workers again?

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[–] throwawayacc0430@sh.itjust.works 35 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Bro that is so gonna get HitchBot'ed

a photo was tweeted, showing that the robot had been stripped "beyond repair" and decapitated in Philadelphia. The robot was located by some people following its progress on its website. The head was never found.

Also, like... if you wanna replace human workers, fine, just give us the UBI.

Otherwise, riots would be justified.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 8 points 6 days ago

as someone who has spent time living in Philly what were they THINKING lmfao

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[–] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (3 children)

No they fucking aren't. That shit would be so much more expensive than a person. Liars, and not even particularly good ones.

[–] mostlikelyaperson@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Yup, and people seem to frequently underestimate how ridiculously expensive running a fleet of humanoid robots would be (and don’t seem to realize how comparatively low the manual labor it’d replace is paid.)

[–] AcidicBasicGlitch@lemm.ee 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

I mean apparently they're partnering with a private robotics company. The picture is an actual model of the company's robot. Whether or not they actually end up implementing this, they're allegedly currently training the robots.

Presumably, if nothing else, Amazon/Bezos is probably getting some sweet federal kick backs to attempt this and further the current administration's agenda to beat "Gyna" in the science and tech race. Except unlike Gyna, the U.S. is firing all of their scientists (which, until Jan. 2025, was one area that the U.S. had unquestionably dominated China) bc they think AI can replace them too.

So now, they're just handing all the resources to the kind of technocratic "elites" who are used to just purchasing their good ideas, rather than actually creating anything. This is also why they seem to genuinely believe something like Amazon humanoids is a sound investment, "durr, we don't need people bcuz we haz robots."

Fun fact, just learned they are indeed going to try to replace scientists with robots too. There was a meeting about it yesterday:

For all we know they made the futuristic robot exoskeleton, took some fancy pictures of it holding a package, and that's all she wrote. The end result is just some rich assholes are slightly richer at the expense of the tax payer, and we should be grateful. 'Merica! 🇺🇲

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[–] VicksVaporBBQrub@sh.itjust.works 33 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I imagine they will scale back robot design and just throw from the truck.

[–] 5too@lemmy.world 9 points 6 days ago (3 children)

...okay, I really want to know the story behind that picture!

[–] Atropos@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I'm gonna say CGI. Arm isn't mounted to the floor (I can tell by the pixels), no cables going to the arm, holding the bowling ball like that is extremely unsafe.

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[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago (5 children)

I tend to disbelieve this, mainly because a humanoid robot would be overkill. Custom-purpose robots would be much cheaper to design, build and maintain, with fewer potential failure points.

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[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 14 points 6 days ago

everyone knows its just going to be indians in a data center in india controlling the bots.

[–] megabat@lemm.ee 22 points 6 days ago

I can't wait to throw a Faraday blanket over one of these and jtag some open source firmware on it. What do you mean steal? I didn't steal anything, I just repurposed some garbage left on my front step!

[–] xektop@lemmy.zip 12 points 5 days ago (4 children)

So, from what little research I did the robots cost from 5000$ to 500000$, as most articles point out the advanced robots cost 200000-300000$. In a lot of places around the world that's like paying a human for 8-10 years. Humans are easily "replaceable", where those robots have maintenance cost additional to the initial "investment". How is that feasible in the eyes of the big money oligarchs? I genuinely don't understand the end goal here.

[–] mustbe3to20signs@feddit.org 14 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (3 children)

I don't think they really plan to replace workers with robots. It fulfills two other purposes:

  • Keep the work force humble by threatening them with permanent replaceability.
  • Keep the stock holders happy. This shit simulates "innovation" like the delivery drones 10 years ago.
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[–] Tetragrade@leminal.space 6 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

When the mask comes off, humans will revolt. Robots won't.

Or, that's the delusion.

[–] outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

The labor aspect of class politics is complicated.

But you don't have to understand any of it to think stealing these would be cool as fuck.

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[–] frazw@lemmy.world 25 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Amazon 1 year after launch: Unfortunately, the space needed for robots in the van means that the van has to return to base 5 times more often to reload with the actual packages and the extra weight of robots more than doubles the weight of the van being lugged around in the form of heavy robots. So that's why we are having to charge more for delivery and why it is taking longer for you to get your packages. But at least we can pay fewer salaries.

[–] ChapulinColorado@lemmy.world 15 points 6 days ago

Also we don’t pay taxes but will fuck up the roads with the extra weight. Good luck driving over potholes suckers!

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[–] last_philosopher@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Let's count the problems:

  1. Up front cost
  2. Maintenance cost
  3. Varied problems like different types of stairs, tripping hazards, etc.
  4. People attacking or stealing robots and their packages.
  5. Safety issues with 100+ pound metal robots falling on pets and children

Any others?

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[–] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 20 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

The robot then encounters the entirely unpredictable American rural south

staircases half busted up surrounded by weeds and gravel roads full of holes

robots fucked with by kids who are now tying it to a tree with bungie cords for fun

one being dragged off in the background by a dude with a welding mask on

wageslave.exe has encountered an internal exception and must close

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[–] sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

Amazon still can't even figure out how to reliably get human drivers door passcodes into an apartment building, and then into its mail/package locker room.

The map system it uses for telling drivers how to get around a city to make deliveries is also garbage, can't account for traffic, punishes people for using faster side routes to get to the same place, tells you to park in areas that either have no parking at all, or where parking there would majorly disrupt traffic, or assumes available street parking will always exist in places and times it almost never does.

I once did an Amazon delivery gig where they booked me in for the time slot, I get to the FC, after waiting an hour they tell half of us: 'oops we booked too many drivers, so today you all get $200 for showing up and doing nothing, go home now'

???

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 13 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Update: It is day 126 and Amazon still can't figure out where my camera is.

I know where it is. Their delivery driver stole it. (Yes, I just charged back my credit card. Their response was to send me an incredibly smarmy and condescending form email asking why, as if they don't already know. And they lost the chargeback dispute, obviously.)

So maybe their robots won't steal your package. They'll just yeet it into a bush 65536 yards from your house in a random direction instead. On the bright side, you might occasionally get a package that belongs to someone else from the other side of town dropped on your lawn.

To both this and that I say no thanks; I don't use Amazon anymore.

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[–] victorz@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago (3 children)

I'd be terrified if that thing showed up at my door.

[–] cmnybo@discuss.tchncs.de 25 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Better keep a big furnace full of molten steel ready just in case.

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[–] Almacca@aussie.zone 15 points 6 days ago (4 children)

They'll be vandalised almost immediately.

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[–] AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

Not in Philly they won't lol

[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Yo why tf can't they just fucking pay people a reasonable wage AND give them sane working conditions? This is insane. Capitalism does not favor anyone except the rich. It's time to tear down this wall of mediocrity and face the facts. No sense of government intervention will fix this. It must all be rewritten entirely.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

Because it's not real. It's purely for marketing, not for actual wide-spread implementation.

Even in the best of cases, even factoring in economy of scale and all that, a robot like that will cost upwards of €50k at least, probably closer to double that, will require constant maintainance, and the risk of vandalism or accidental damage is really high. And you'll likely need a (skilled) human operator nearby anyway, because the delivery vehicle doesn't drive itself.

The purpose of projects like this is marketing and public perception.

  • The company looks futuristic and future proof. That's good to get investors.
  • The company looks like they could replace humans with robots at any time. That's good with negotiations with unions and workers.
  • The company gets into headlines worldwide. That's advertisement they don't have to pay for.

This robot is not meant to ever go mainstream. Maybe there will be a handful of routes where they will be implemented for marketing purposes, but like drone delivery and similar gimmicks, it won't beat a criminally underpaid delivery human on price, and that's the only metric that counts for a company like Amazon.

[–] DarkCloud@lemmy.world 17 points 6 days ago

Be funny if hackers hacked them to kill CEOs.

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 13 points 6 days ago (3 children)

If i see a humanoid robot delivering a package i will throw bricks at it and then pee on it, in the way a 3 year old would during a tantrum.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 11 points 6 days ago

I, for one, will certainly not loot it for parts, unless it has an unfortunate accident, in which case I'm just recycling trash that someone left out.

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[–] skip0110@lemmy.zip 14 points 6 days ago

Amazons “genius” packing bots will throw a tiny fragile thing with a medium size heavy thing in a box 16x too big along with a shred of packing material.

Can’t wait to have that same “genius” applied to the actual delivery itself.

Seriously, I make maybe 5 or 6 Amazon purchases per year. I would say at least 50% of those disappoint in some way: the item was misleadingly listed, or it was damaged in shipping, or it doesn’t arrive when the promised. I really don’t find it convenient at all.

[–] Botzo@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

They can depreciate these assets over their useful life, because unlike your soggy flesh sack, these are capital expenses, not operating expenses.

... For now. I'm sure there are libertarians that think you should be able to sell yourself as the depreciable asset you are.

[–] nthavoc@lemmy.today 7 points 6 days ago

They will train it so well, it will even collapse like a human when overworked! https://youtu.be/6Kp5qrCExps . I recognized that bot from the photo.

[–] Jhex@lemmy.world 11 points 6 days ago (1 children)

what? they gave up on the drones?

[–] AcidicBasicGlitch@lemm.ee 17 points 6 days ago

I guess they felt like drones flying over civilian populations was a bit too unsettling in this day and age, so they are shifting to humanoids that will jump suddenly from moving vehicles and dash towards a destination.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 11 points 6 days ago

They already treat their workers like humanoid robots, so this tracks.

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