Amazon says that thanks to advances in AI, its next-generation warehouse robot can now be assigned tasks by employees “the way they’d communicate with a colleague.” The company unveiled the latest version of its Proteus robot on Thursday at its Delivering the Future event in London. Amazon first introduced Proteus back in 2022 as its first fully autonomous mobile robot. It was designed to operate in dock areas and fulfillment centers, carrying carts full of packages that could weigh nearly 400 kilograms (roughly 882 pounds) over long distances. According to the company, the new Proteus will be able to work across more parts of Amazon’s facilities, anywhere items need to be moved, including transporting containers and delivery sites. But the biggest upgrade is how employees communicate with it. Instead of using technical commands or a programming interface, workers will be able to assign Proteus tasks in plain conversational language.
“You tell it what needs to be done. It figures out the priority, the route, the timing,” said Scott Dresser, vice president of Amazon Robotics, in a blog post. “It becomes your assistant for material movement.” The new Proteus robots will eventually join the more than 1 million robots already working across Amazon’s fulfillment network. Still, the announcement undoubtedly raises concerns about Amazon using automation and AI to replace human workers. Amazon has downplayed those concerns in the past.
