Amazon deploys AI cameras inside delivery vans, misspells 'surveillance' as 'safety' in reason why
- Reference: 1612479925
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/02/04/amazon_driver_cameras/
- Source link:
The e-commerce behemoth has been slammed in the past for using all sorts of technology to [1]keep close tabs on its workers sorting and handling goods at its warehouses. Now, it wants to keep a constant eye on those who set foot outside its so-called fulfillment centers.
[2]
In a [3]seven-or-so-minute corporate video, Karolina Haraldsdottir, a senior manager at Amazon working on "last mile safety," said the internet giant was teaming up with Netradyne, an AI startup based in San Diego, to fit always-on cameras inside the vans.
“Delivering Amazon packages is one of the most important pieces to the Amazon customer experience,” she said.
[4]
“That is why at Amazon we are committed to keeping drivers and the communities in which they deliver safe. We’re always searching out for innovative ways to keep drivers safe. That is why we have partnered with Netradyne to help us make improvements to the driver’s experience.” The video was [5]first spotted and reported by The Information.
Amazon coughs up $62m to shoo away claims it stole driver tips, cut pay rates without telling them [6]READ MORE
By that, Amazon means it will use cameras running machine-learning algorithms to detect things like when a driver is going too fast or looking at their phone instead of the road ahead. The cameras have four lenses, one facing the driver, another facing the road, and two on either side to provide 270 degrees of coverage. Netradyne’s software on the gizmos will look out for 16 types of behaviors, some more serious than others, and can make a noise to alert the driver that they're screwing up.
Some of these include failing to brake at a stop sign, or speeding. Other types of behaviors won't trigger audio alerts though are logged anyway. For example, if the driver isn’t wearing a seat belt or if the camera is obstructed. The system may also be used to spot package thieves and things like collisions with pedestrians and other vehicles. Drivers are encouraged to self-report instances of road rage or document when a drop-off point is closed or inaccessible.
Haraldsdottir said Netradyne’s device doesn’t record audio, and that Amazon can’t watch live footage from the cameras. The camera systems will be in use and recording 100 per cent of the time during delivery rounds by the machine-learning software, though.
CNBC [7]reported that the technology has already been deployed in some Amazon-branded cargo vans, and may be rolled out further – and that Amazon isn't the only one doing this. For instance, UPS has [8]in-truck cameras , too. Amazon contracts delivery firms to drop off its packages, and it's these vans that have, and more may have, the cameras fitted.
Comment
Sure, in The Register 's opinion, we all want safer drivers, for Amazon's reps to obey traffic laws, and for packages to be delivered correctly and not go missing, and for pedestrians and other road users to go unharmed. This is fine, and on that level, Amazon's cameras are not a stretch, and maybe even welcomed. Yet it's so on-brand for Amazon to install totally reliable artificial intelligence in vehicles to constantly appraise and micromanage, silently or otherwise, workers, and report back to bosses. It doesn't exactly signal trust. Perhaps it was an obvious inevitability.
Don't forget: Amazon doesn’t exactly have a great reputation when it comes to looking out for its drivers. America's consumer watchdog, the FTC, just this week got the Jeff Bezos-built biz to cough up $61.7m to settle allegations it [9]secretly stole tips from its drivers for three years.
[10]
Netradyne declined to comment. Amazon told us: “We are investing in safety across our operations and recently started rolling out industry leading camera-based safety technology across our delivery fleet. This technology will provide drivers real-time alerts to help them stay safe when they are on the road.” ®
Get our [11]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/02/amazon_job_conditions/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/artificial_intelligence&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YBzQ6Z@rf9RJX7945WLj-AAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://vimeo.com/504570835/e80ee265bc?utm_campaign=5370367&utm_source=affiliate&utm_channel=affiliate&cjevent=2c720f9a671311eb830a01e70a1c0e0d
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/artificial_intelligence&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YBzQ6Z@rf9RJX7945WLj-AAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theinformation.com/articles/amazon-plans-ai-powered-cameras-to-monitor-delivery-van-drivers
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/02/amazon_tips_settlement/
[7] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/03/amazon-using-ai-equipped-cameras-in-delivery-vans.html
[8] https://www.tdu.org/ups_installing_cameras_inside_package_cars
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/02/amazon_tips_settlement/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_emergent_tech/artificial_intelligence&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YBzQ6Z@rf9RJX7945WLj-AAAAE4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: failing to break?
Maybe Amazon drivers are supposed to breakdance at each of those signs. I've seen more than a few examples of chinese fire drill at stop signs.
In all seriousness... this should be reported through the Corrections link at the bottom of the article. They respond super fast to them.
Re: failing to break?
Yeah, OK, easy mistake -- it's fixed. Don't forget to email corrections@theregister.com if you spot anything like this, ta.
C.
When you buy from them...
... you condone their behaviour.
Re: When you buy from them...
Exactly. Couldn't upvote you more than once, sadly.
What They Said, and What They Mean
“That is why at Amazon we are committed to keeping drivers and the communities in which they deliver safe. We’re always searching out for innovative ways to keep drivers safe. That is why we have partnered with Netradyne to help us make improvements to the driver’s experience.”
Translated :
“That is why at Amazon we are committed to keeping drivers worried about not working hard enough and the communities in which they work in, coerced to deliver more packages. We’re always searching out for innovative ways to screw over our workers. That is why we have partnered with Netradyne to help us make improvements to the driver’s experience which may (most likely), or may not (least likely), be detrimental to their health. .”
Overloading
Many of the Amazon "delivery" delivers in the city I live in use normal cars heavily overloaded. A professional driver will use a safe van of some form. So many Amazon deliveries in this city are carried out from overloaded small family cars. Parcels piled up in the back seat, to the roof of the car, blocking the view, and causing some bizarre potential safety issues. Amazon drive to chase for cheap, quick delivery is leaving too many corners cut.
Adding cameras to these drivers would backfire on Amazon as it would be recording rule breaking that they themselves are causing.
This kind of dubious amateur delivery is driving me away from using Amazon. There is a scary level of ignoring the laws of the road.
Re: Overloading
Full disclosure time - the OH delivers for another company, and uses her own car, as do many of the other drivers at her depot, so the following comments are based on what I've learned as a result...
BYOC(ar) is common across many delivery companies, and is one of the reasons why you can now order something today and have it in your hands tomorrow without it costing a fortune in delivery charges, or why you can wait an extra couple of days and have it delivered for nothing - if companies required their drivers to only use vans, then it'd either result in there being fewer drivers (pushing up delivery times) or drivers having to be provided with company vans (pushing up delivery costs), because many of the drivers doing this work day in day out are doing it as a way to earn a bit of money doing a job that's sufficiently flexible to fit around things like childcare, and wouldn't be doing it if they had to provide their own van.
Maybe the rules are different in your part of the world, but here in the UK it's not illegal to fill up the interior of a car so much that you can't see out the rear window provided you have a clear view of both wing mirrors, though yes, if you pile it high with smaller items that could shift around under braking then there is the potential for things to go wrong - this isn't in itself a problem with using cars for delivery, it's just something the driver needs to plan when loading the car to keep things as well secured as possible.
Overloading, as far as weight limits go, is unlikely given the makeup of a typical car-load of parcels, especially bearing in mind that it'll usually only be the driver in the car with them all, rather than potentially 4-6 other fully grown adults. Plus, at the company my OH works for, the genuinely heavy or bulky items are assigned to one of the van drivers for delivery, with the car drivers being used to cope with the far greater numbers of smaller/lighter parcels. And the drivers have the choice to reject any parcel they decide is too big/heavy for them to delivery safely.
So I wouldn't say these "amateur" drivers (and note that they're amateurs in the same sense as anyone driving a fully liveried van for delivering - with few exceptions, those vans can be driven by anyone with a normal car licence, so those drivers are unlikely to have had any additional training compared with the people using their own cars) are in general ignoring the laws, and right now it's the way most deliveries are going. Even the big names are increasingly using drivers who bring their own vans to help deal with the amount of stuff that's now being delivered every day, so if you'd prefer not to order stuff from a company that relies on such drivers to get said stuff to you, then you're going to end up with a rather short list of suppliers.
As for the whole "in cab camera" and wider "driver behaviour monitoring" issue - prior to doing deliveries, the OH drove buses, and cameras/black boxes were a standard fit on all the buses in this part of the UK, along with "mystery shopper" passengers who'd observe driver performance first hand. Doesn't necessarily make such levels of employee scrutiny OK, it's just worth remembering that Amazon aren't the first, and won't be the last, company to do stuff like this - we do however seem to like giving them more of a hard time over stuff like this, because, well, Amazon.
Put those cameras where they are actually needed...
in the payroll department to make sure they don't steal tips from their employees again.
Excellent!
Does this mean when the Amazon driver marks my delivery "Unable to access front door" that there will be proof they didn't even drive to my house?
(No, I'm not kidding. I get that all the time. They claim the front door is not accessible when they never even pull in the driveway or attempt delivery.)
Once the numbers are in...
... you'll find that in addition to an accentuated reliance on the likes of Amazon for goods you might normally just pop out to the local big box for, the CORONA virus has inexplicably ushered in a dramatic rise in the incidence of car-jacking, or "grand-burglary auto", the taking of a vehicle using the threat of those deadly weapons which are so ubiquitous in the US. I have to think that jacking an Amazon delivery would be a bonus for one of these thugs.
failing to break?
"Some of these include failing to break at a stop sign" - is a bit harsh. Failing to stop maybe, but what exactly is it they are supposed to break?