Remember in August, when one of Amazon’s Prime Air drones used its “industry-leading Detect-and-Avoid” camera and sensor technology to carefully deliver a package… plop into a woman’s backyard pool? Remember in September, when thousands of people wearing Meta AI glasses were using the specs’ camera feature to secretly record others without consent, to the point where Meta pinky-sweared they were remotely blocking the recording function for offenders? Well, check out this fresh hell we’re getting in October: Amazon is rolling out AI smart glasses for their delivery drivers. Currently, drivers use a phone app to process deliveries (not to mention they also have a fleet of cameras in the vehicles monitoring their actions). So the angle Amazon is pushing hard is how wonderful and time-saving it will be — for drivers and consumers! — to have the glasses replace the phones, thus making operations hands free. What Amazon really wants to avoid talking about — which we won’t let them do! — is how the AI glasses will be constantly supervising employees (who already barely get a bathroom break), as well as amassing heaps of camera footage of private residences. WHAT COULD GO WRONG?

Almost a year after a proud announcement on its in-house news website, Amazon is set to roll out “smart delivery glasses” that will further improve the corporation’s workplace surveillance machine.

The e-commerce giant has long been synonymous with the relentless surveillance of its workers, especially delivery drivers.

The AI-powered product Driver.i is currently installed in most vehicles in Amazon’s fleet and records drivers at all times. Plus, the Amazon app constantly tracks a driver’s location and pace.

When a driver commits an infraction (or the system determines they did), the system sends video of their alleged offense to Amazon. Punishment follows.

For Amazon, even this is not enough. Last year, the company introduced “smart delivery glasses,” and now, a recent post of Reddit’s r/AmazonDSPDrivers community suggests that training with the glasses has finally begun.

On the surface, the smart AI-powered glasses are marketed as a useful replacement for the smartphone.

Drivers wearing these glasses don’t have to check their phones for directions and destinations. They don’t have to swipe to confirm deliveries or use them for photographing packages. In short, drivers can pay full attention to their surroundings.

“These glasses help Delivery Associates scan packages, see heads-up walking directions, capture proof of delivery, and receive pet alerts — all without the use of their phone,” Amazon said.

“The technology creates a hands-free experience, reducing the need to look between the phone, the package, and the surrounding area.”

The other part of the story is that the smart glasses will squeeze the maximum amount of deliveries from their drivers, whilst the AI watches them all the time. That’s inhumane, says C. R. Calabria, a writer for Jacobin.

“There’s no fundamental reason why efficient package delivery needs to involve dehumanizing surveillance, AI discipline, and otherwise degrading labor conditions,” Calabria pointed out.

Critics also argue that Amazon’s smart glasses pose significant privacy risks, push workers to the limit, and commodify every second of labor.

As Bloomberg’s Dave Lee has recently pointed out, drivers wearing the gadgets will be capturing images and video feeds of private properties and individuals without their consent.

The data will presumably be fed back to Amazon’s AI systems.

[From Cybernews]

Dave Lee, cited in this article, has his own new piece up at Bloomberg that goes more in depth on just how problematic these AI smart glasses are. And though Amazon would desperately like to pin that “Yay, efficiency!” bow on these glasses, A) we can see what’s going on with our own eyes, no fancy glasses required, and B) Amazon’s own spox is doing a crap job of selling that story. Lee interviewed Viraj Chatterjee, the executive point person for the rollout, and the guy refused to confirm the exact frequency with which the AI will be taking pictures, no matter how hard Lee pressed for an answer. (The best Lee managed to get was a range between every few seconds and several times a second.) Then Chatterjee tried to talk up how the glasses are programmed to blur out people in the image data it collects, which Lee easily undercut by pointing out that the sensitive location information is still being captured. And of course as yet, consumers don’t have the chance to opt out of glasses being used in our deliveries, nor can we opt out of our homes being photographed. Instead, Chatterjee insisted the glasses are programmed with self-regulating features that will automatically kick in to ensure privacy — for both consumers and delivery drivers. Sure, Janazon.

Photos credit: RDNE stock project and Kindel media on Pexels