Smart glasses, robots with three arms: Is this what the future of work looks like?

With cautious steps, the Amazon delivery driver approaches a house entrance, balancing three packages in his arms. He would normally also be holding a smartphone to see which package belongs to which address and to document the delivery with a photo.

Instead, he now wears augmented reality glasses. A map, projected onto his right lens, guides him to the correct door; with a glance at the labels, the glasses automatically scan the packages. Another hand movement, click, the glasses take a photo of the delivery and automatically send it to the Amazon customer.

Smart glasses are the latest innovation from Amazon, with which the online giant aims to simplify package delivery. In the future, Amazon's drivers will receive real-time information about each customer directly on their glasses – whether there are dogs present, what the door code is, and what tripping hazards might be present.

But that's not all: Two cameras in the glasses also capture the rider's surroundings. An AI filters the relevant information from this data stream and stores it in the system for each of the millions of customer addresses. The data giant Amazon can now see, too.

Drivers are training to use the glasses at a special training facility in the distribution center in Milpitas, a 75-minute drive south of San Francisco. Amazon unveiled the new gadgets there at a robotics event in mid-October. The "smart glasses" are expected to be worn company-wide soon – including in Europe.

The glasses are one of the technological innovations with which the online giant aims to make its business more efficient. Amazon also unveiled a robot with artificial intelligence last week: "Blue Jay" is capable of multitasking thanks to its multiple arms; it is, in effect, three robots in one. Standing at conveyor belts, it will sort shopping carts, select the products for an order, and prepare them for shipping.

“He’s like a juggler handling multiple balls,” says Tye Brady, chief technology officer in Amazon’s robotics division. But unlike human jugglers, “Blue Jay” never drops a ball.

What's also impressive is how quickly the new robot was developed. Amazon used to spend three years or more tinkering with previous robotic arms, Brady explains. With "Blue Jay," it took just 18 months from concept to finished robot. Virtual prototypes, so-called digital twins, made physical ones unnecessary. "We expect that development cycles will always be this fast from now on."

«Blue Jay» will be used in all of Amazon's new distribution centers in the future, especially in urban areas where space is limited and expensive.

Artificial intelligence plus robotics – that's Amazon's growth formula. Drivers, robotic arms, even resource allocation in distribution centers are now optimized with AI so that the company can grow even more in the USA.

The company is already an indispensable part of everyday life for many Americans: According to the market research firm CIRP, one in two Americans has an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $139 per year. And three out of four Americans have bought something from Amazon in the past twelve months. Even more so than Europeans, Americans like to have all their everyday items delivered to their doorstep – from children's toys and dog food to fresh groceries for dinner.

In particular, the promise of same-day delivery, available in thousands of cities and towns across the US, binds consumers to Amazon Prime. Rapid delivery has become so crucial that Amazon and its competitors are engaged in a fierce race to see who can reach the customer faster. Walmart even promises express deliveries in under thirty minutes.

"We've noticed that delivery speed directly impacts customer behavior," says Sarah Mathews, who heads up delivery at Amazon. "Customers buy more products, and more frequently, and they're more likely to renew their Prime membership when they see the benefits in their daily lives." Her dream is for same-day delivery to be available nationwide.

To get closer to this goal, the company is currently investing $4 billion in new infrastructure and billions more in robotics and AI. As of July, Amazon already employed one million robots, more than any other company in the US.

The number is likely to increase significantly soon. The New York Times recently reported that Amazon will no longer fill 600,000 new positions with humans in the coming years because robots will have taken over the tasks. Amazon's robotics team has been instructed to ensure that 75 percent of the business is ultimately automated.

According to the newspaper's research, Amazon expects that the reduced personnel costs will save approximately 30 cents per product that the company packages and ships. In this way, they believe they can double their revenue by 2033.

The plans have already progressed so far that they have already worked out how to respond to the expected public criticism – namely with more involvement in charitable activities, writes the "New York Times" , such as toy collection drives for the upcoming Christmas campaign.

This strategy would also align with Amazon's recent event at the San Francisco Food Bank, which distributes food to people in need. The company, in turn, emphasizes that its public engagement is independent of its automation efforts.

It's not just low-level workers in distribution centers who are being replaced by AI and robotics: On Monday, it was announced that Amazon would be cutting 30,000 jobs among its corporate employees , roughly one in ten. Amazon stated that the layoffs were intended to increase efficiency and allow it to invest in what current and future customers value most.

Publicly, however, Amazon is keen to emphasize the benefits of automation for its workforce. The robotics chief, Brady, repeatedly asserted at the event in Milpitas that the goal is not to replace people. "We are freeing workers from monotonous tasks, thus giving them time to take on more demanding responsibilities." Internally, Amazon offers further training, such as for robot managers. Tens of thousands of employees have already taken advantage of this.

But it's also clear that Amazon's distribution centers will soon need significantly fewer robot managers than they do employees today. And that robots, especially those with three arms, can offer an efficiency that humans will never achieve.