Get ready to share the walkway with robots
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This story was first published in The Aleph Report.
I am a big fan of logistics. Moving things from here to there is the dream of any engineer. We can track my enthusiasm to my time spent playing SimCity and The Incredible Machine games. I will throw in some Lemmings in the mix too.
Despite my keen interest in the field, we must confess it’s perceived as a dull industry. And no wonder. Run by old school boys driving trucks and loading freights. Grease, dirt, heavy cargo and men in flannel shirts come to mind.
However, the logistic dream from the 60s has nothing to do with logistics in 2018. The convergence of e-commerce, mobile and artificial intelligence is sending shockwaves across the industry.
While international logistics are essential, their complexity pales to the challenges of last-mile delivery. And to be honest, the current last-mile companies suck big time. I’m tired of getting my food cold. I’ve tried them in many different cities and countries, and it’s a hit and miss. I mention food delivery, but the same goes for package delivery.
Many companies, stirred by the looming Amazon empire, are pushing into the field. To do last-mile right, you need massive capillarity and low response times. On top of building predictive systems for improved routing, which is worth noting, not everyone is doing; there is the simple need of adding more couriers. Here is the kickback, they have to be cheap. All hail to the sharing economy.
Overworked and underpaid riders roam the world cities delivering your overpriced pizza. And local governments aren’t liking it. There are now several instances where judges are slamming the breaks on last-mile companies on employee exploitation charges.
The rise of the robots
Not only last-mile delivery requires speed and capillarity, but low marginal costs. The problem is that humans are slow, expensive and above all, they despise this kind of work. People aren’t cogs, but we insist on using them as machinery.
