Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says robots won’t replace humans

Bezos says it’s very unlikely that machine intelligence and artificial intelligence will make humans have no jobs.

Bezos illustrated his point using Earth-moving equipment as an example. “We could have a lot of employment by getting rid of bulldozers,” he said. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Reliance Jio earlier this month unveiled JioPhone 2, an upgraded version of the company's first smart feature phone. The company also announced updating JioPhones with support for popular mobile apps like WhatsApp and YouTube – top missing apps on the smart feature phone. Reliance Jio's JioPhone 2 will also have these popular applications. Reliance JioPhone runs a customised version of WhatsApp which looks quite different from the Android version. KaiOS, the developers behind the software for the Jio smart feature phones, has ensured the UI is pretty simple and optimised for a low-end device.

Reliance Jio earlier this month unveiled JioPhone 2, an upgraded version of the company's first smart feature phone. The company also announced updating JioPhones with support for popular mobile apps like WhatsApp and YouTube – top missing apps on the smart feature phone. Reliance Jio's JioPhone 2 will also have these popular applications. Reliance JioPhone runs a customised version of WhatsApp which looks quite different from the Android version. KaiOS, the developers behind the software for the Jio smart feature phones, has ensured the UI is pretty simple and optimised for a low-end device.

OnePlus is scheduled to launch the OnePlus 6T smartphone on October 29 in New York. Prior to its official launch, OnePlus 6T has been subject to many leaks and rumours. The company has also been teasing its new phone and making announcements on the same. What we know so far is that the OnePlus 6T will come sans the headphone jack, and the rear fingerprint sensor. It will instead feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. OnePlus 6T is expected to go through a design change featuring a tinier notch. It could also come with a bigger battery.

OnePlus is scheduled to launch the OnePlus 6T smartphone on October 29 in New York. Prior to its official launch, OnePlus 6T has been subject to many leaks and rumours. The company has also been teasing its new phone and making announcements on the same. What we know so far is that the OnePlus 6T will come sans the headphone jack, and the rear fingerprint sensor. It will instead feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. OnePlus 6T is expected to go through a design change featuring a tinier notch. It could also come with a bigger battery.

Bezos illustrated his point using Earth-moving equipment as an example. "We could have a lot of employment by getting rid of bulldozers," he said. "You could get rid of the shovels and force people to dig with teaspoons. This would not make our society wealthier."  ALSO: Amazon is said to be working on home robots

Future Jobs

As for managing expectations about the future, Bezos praised science fiction writers for showing us what's possible (though he noted the computer on the USS Enterprise could have had a more human-sounding voice), and dinged the rest of us on our predictive capabilities.

"We are so bad at imagining the future of jobs," Bezos said. "A hundred years ago, if I said to you, 'In the 21st century there's going to be an occupation called massage therapist,' you'd have laughed at me."

Funny thing is, massage therapist may be one of the jobs a robot can get paid to do, if Ackman has his say. During the cocktail hour, the founder of Pershing Square Capital said if he could have a robot do whatever he wanted, he'd have it deliver "massage on demand."

Siegel, who serves on the board of FIRST, said he'd like a robot who could go to work in his place. He'd direct the robot from home, and maybe get to spend more time with his kids, one of whom is participating in FIRST's robotics competition. Overdeck is waiting for a self-driving car.

Robotic Competition

Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST (and the Segway's inventor), said he'd like a robot that creates human organs for transplant purposes.

Noor Khalifa, an 11th grader on a FIRST robotics competition team at the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics in East Harlem, said she dreams of a robot that can detect cancer before it starts. Classmate Loren Baret said she wants one that will end hunger. Last year their team built a robot that had a color sensor to differentiate red and blue blocks, and a claw to move and stack objects. They made it to the second round.

Bezos said the best way to prepare kids for the future is give as many of them as possible access to the kind of experiences FIRST provides. "You've got to learn to learn," Bezos said.

Amazon is doing its part with a new program called Amazon Future Engineer announced Thursday.

"The first thing we're doing is we are funding a game that is going to teach people how to code," Bezos said. They also plan to fund computer science classes in 2,000 high schools in mostly lower-income communities, as well as offer 100 four-year college scholarships with each recipient guaranteed an internship at Amazon, he said.

Bezos also imparted a parenting lesson he picked up from his mom: benign neglect. She was protective "in a good way" meaning she let her kids get into trouble and hurt themselves.

"I'm surprised I'm alive," he said.

Amazon is teaching kids how to code with its new Amazon Future Engineer programme (Blooomberg)

Amazon is teaching kids how to code with its new Amazon Future Engineer programme (Blooomberg)

He recounted discovering an open garage door at an empty house that had been sold, down the street from where he grew up.

"I went into the garage, I was alone in there, and I realized that the circuit breaker panel was available to me and the big 220-volt outlet where you'd normally plug in a washing machine was available."

He turned off the circuit breaker, inserted two spoons into the outlet, "took a ball and tossed it against the spoons, so they would touch, and it created an impressive display of pyrotechnics."

"I did this over and over," he said. When he invited the neighbors to see this demonstration, "I got caught. You have to let kids endanger themselves a little bit."