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posted by martyb on Monday December 03 2018, @06:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the What-could-possibly-go-wrong? dept.

Robot Janitors Are Coming to Mop Floors at a Walmart Near You

The world's largest retailer is rolling out 360 autonomous floor-scrubbing robots in some of its stores in the U.S. by the end of the[sic] January, it said in a joint statement with Brain Corp., which makes the machines. The autonomous janitors can clean floors on their own even when customers are around, according to the San Diego-based startup.

Walmart has already been experimenting with automating the scanning of shelves for out-of-stock items and hauling products from storage for online orders. Advances in computer vision are also making it possible to use retail floor data to better understand consumer behavior, improve inventory tracking and even do away with checkout counters, as Amazon.com Inc. is trying to do with its cashierless stores. Brain's robots are equipped with an array of sensors that let them to[sic] gather and upload data.

"We can take anything that has wheels and turn it into a fully autonomous robot, provided that it can go slow and stopping is never a safety concern," said Brain Chief Executive Office Eugene Izhikevich. "And it's more than just navigation. It is to robots what Android operating system is to smartphones."

Amazon wants to sell booze at one of its Chicago retail stores

Amazon.com Inc. wants to sell alcohol at its planned new Amazon Go retail store in the Illinois Center. Seattle-based Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) applied for a liquor license from the city of Chicago this month, with "Amazon Retail LLC" applying for package goods liquor license at 111 E. Wacker Drive, floor 1, according to the city.

Amazon announced its fourth Chicago-area Amazon Go retail store earlier this month, planned for Illinois Center, with an opening set for early 2019. None of the current Chicago Amazon Go stores currently sell alcohol.

Previously: Walmart to Deploy Shelf-Scanning Robots at 50 Stores
Amazon Plans to Open as Many as Six More Cashierless Amazon Go Stores This Year
Amazon Considering Opening Up to 3,000 New Cashierless "Amazon Go" Stores


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  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 03 2018, @07:20PM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 03 2018, @07:20PM (#769257)

    Yes some menial jobs will hang around, but a LOT of humans are going to have no employment opportunities UNLESS the middle class is revived and people can once again pay to have others do their chores. If I had enough disposable income I'd sign up for laundry, yard, and cleaning services. Of course all those services will get knocked out as soon as someone makes a bot that can do it faster / better. Just sit in the truck supervising.

    Hahahahahah fuck off with your 2nd post you victim blaming shit stain. You are the WORST. At least TMB, EF, and fuck EVEN JMORRIS have more humanity than you. You are just a boot licking toady.

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  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by khallow on Monday December 03 2018, @08:02PM (7 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 03 2018, @08:02PM (#769269) Journal

    Yes some menial jobs will hang around, but a LOT of humans are going to have no employment opportunities UNLESS the middle class is revived and people can once again pay to have others do their chores. If I had enough disposable income I'd sign up for laundry, yard, and cleaning services. Of course all those services will get knocked out as soon as someone makes a bot that can do it faster / better. Just sit in the truck supervising.

    You do realize that a key reason the middle class is declining is because the upper classes are increasing in size?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 03 2018, @09:00PM (6 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 03 2018, @09:00PM (#769285)

      Is there a clueless mod? I think we should add a clueless mod...

      • (Score: 0, Troll) by khallow on Monday December 03 2018, @09:46PM (2 children)

        by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 03 2018, @09:46PM (#769299) Journal
        Sure. And then dump those mods all over your post.

        I've talked [soylentnews.org] about this before. From that journal, there's a link to a Pew Research Center study which concluded that between 1971 and 2015, the middle class (as a measure of income) in the US shrunk from 61% to 50% (which let us note is an increase in absolute terms due to population growth), combined with an increase in the lower income from 25% to 29% and an increase in the upper income classes from 14% to 21%.

        In other words, the upper income classes increased at almost double the rate of the lower income classes. That's where the previous AC's whining about a declining middle class failed to get a clue. These tiresome arguments show up again and again. But where's the evidence for them?
        • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @12:24AM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @12:24AM (#769350)

          You're such a disingenuous shill, trying to spin population growth as some positive numbers growth when the middle class is actually shrinking and losing money? Fuck off you sociopath.

          You basically just proved my point, wealth inequality is growing and that top 10% better watch out when shit hits the fan. From history it is clear that many innocent people get caught by class warfare, not just the criminals who deserve what they get. Get a clue khallow!! Fix income inequality (tax the rich not the poor) and we can go peacefully into the future.

          Somehow I doubt that can happen, you greedy fucks are not just greedy but short sighted and won't even plan for the future.

          • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:23AM

            by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:23AM (#769400) Journal

            ou're such a disingenuous shill, trying to spin population growth as some positive numbers growth when the middle class is actually shrinking and losing money?

            And you are a dumbshit who didn't read the post. Read the post. Then comment.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday December 03 2018, @10:24PM (1 child)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Monday December 03 2018, @10:24PM (#769316)

        I think we should add a clueless mod...

        Yes, and a "boring and predictable" one as well.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:24AM

          by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 04 2018, @02:24AM (#769401) Journal

          Yes, and a "boring and predictable" one as well.

          It's truth. It's not meant to be exciting and unpredictable.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @03:54PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @03:54PM (#769611)

        No, that one is true.