Watched a robot take over packing at the warehouse I worked at for 5 years

I used to think people were overreacting about AI stealing jobs, but last month they brought in a robotic arm at the loading dock and cut 4 positions overnight. It sorted and stacked boxes faster than our best guy, and now I'm stuck on a different shift making less money. Has anyone else seen a machine just roll in and replace people like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.cora1mo ago

Ngl that's rough. Machines are just eating jobs now with no warning.

finleyl391mo agoMost Upvoted

Yeah exactly, it feels like nobody's even talking about what happens next. Like we all just watch these headlines about AI taking over call centers and warehouses, but there's no real plan for the people being replaced. I mean, what's the actual endgame here? Do they think everyone's just gonna retrain for fancy tech jobs that barely exist? Or are we supposed to just be grateful if we can still flip burgers while machines handle everything else? Feels like we're sleepwalking into something way bigger than most people realize.

finleyl391mo agoMost Upvoted

Not sure I totally agree though. Trucking is already seeing AI co-pilots tested and warehouses have had automated pickers for years. The warning signs have been flashing for a decade, just nobody wanted to look. Like Amazon has been openly talking about drone delivery and automated fulfillment centers since like 2014. The real problem is we keep kicking the can instead of actually building a safety net.