Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence

Bonney Lake Walmart’s robot zips along in tech revolution that’s raising big questions for workers

Doug Jones, a stocker and unloader at the Bonney Lake Walmart, takes an item off the end of the FAST unloader, a new device that changes the way they unload trucks to the store. FAST stands for flexible automated sorting technology, and it’s a large conveyor belt system that scans items and puts them in organized areas for shelving. The upgrades are part of a $36 million investment in new technologies and upgrades to Walmarts in Washington state (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)
Doug Jones, a stocker at the Bonney Lake Walmart, takes an item off FAST, a new device that changes the way trucks are unloaded by scanning and putting items in organized areas for shelving. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

Walmart recently said it plans to spend $36 million remodeling seven Washington state stores. The project will include deploying autonomous floor scrubbers, smart conveyor belts, and 16-foot-tall vending machines called pickup towers that dispense products ordered online.

The A.I. Age

Justin Adsuara, 22, is a lobby attendant at the new Embassy Suites by Hilton Seattle Downtown Pioneer Square Monday May 15, 2019. He does housekeeping of public and employee areas in the hotel, which is right next to King Street Station. 210270

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FILE- In this March 21, 2019 photo a robot called “Pepper” is positioned near an entrance to a Microsoft Store location, in Boston. Microsoft, a company that often tries to position itself as an early thinker on ethics and privacy issues, published its principles around developing artificial intelligence, released a short book that discussed the societal implications of the technology and has called for some government regulation of AI technologies. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

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Little girl looks at tablet running InnerVoice app with a teddy bear avatar on the screen.

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