Robots In The Workplace

Who will really be in charge?

Last week I joined host Cary Dunst on NTD’s Good Morning show to talk about Amazon’s plan to automate vast portions of its workforce using AI and robotics.

Amazon now employs roughly 1.5 million human workers and 1 million robots—a ratio that reveals where the company’s long-term ambitions lie. CEO Andy Jassy has even urged white-collar employees to “get familiar” with AI, hinting that the divide between human and machine labor isn’t just a warehouse story anymore—it’s moving into the office. (See my full report on Inside Amazon’s Robotic Workforce for all the Darker Details.)

On the show, Cary and I discussed what this means for both workers and the world. Amazon denies leaked reports about large-scale automation plans, but the trend is hard to ignore. Their warehouses can now process some orders from click to shipment in just 11 minutes. That level of precision is impressive—but it comes with a human cost: average worker tenure at Amazon is about eight months, and the company has patented wristbands that track employees’ movements down to the second.

Efficiency, at this scale, raises an uncomfortable question: when humans become data points in a system optimized by algorithms, who’s really in charge?

We also looked at the geopolitical side. AI and robotics could allow the U.S. to reshore manufacturing from adversaries like China—reducing dependence but increasing reliance on machines that can think, move, and act on their own. Once those systems gain agency—the ability to make independent decisions—the “boss” may no longer be a person at all, but a piece of software.

That’s why I believe Amazon is a bellwether for what’s coming next. Not just faster delivery or smarter tools, but a complete rewrite of what it means to work, lead, and be human in an age of autonomous systems.

Watch the full interview and share your thoughts below!