(This column originally appeared in Forbes)
Amazon is rolling out internal technology that’s leveraging AI so that the company’s employees and merchants not only sell more products, but get more work done faster and more accurately. If you’re running a small business you should care. Why? Because what Amazon is doing with AI to run their warehouses, help their merchants, improve their logistics and enhance their back office is what you’ll also be doing sooner rather than later. Are you paying attention? Here are six examples.
1. Using Glasses to help their delivery drivers
According to this report from Reuters in November, Amazon is creating its own smart glasses specifically for delivery drivers so that they can get turn by turn directions as they deliver packages. The directions would even expand into the stop itself, telling drivers what gates or elevators to use and maybe even avoiding overly excited dogs. The hope is that these glasses will reduce the time needed for delivering packages, even by a few seconds. Because the seconds add up. The company is still trying to overcome some hardware limitations (i.e. limited battery capability) before publicly launching.
Why should a business owner care? Google may have failed with its Google Glass years ago, but now these devices are becoming more user friendly and leveraging AI to provide real world value. As big companies like Amazon embrace these technologies, more will proliferate that can benefit your company too.
2. Automatically identifying the right packages for picking
It’s called Vision-Assisted Package Retrieval and is expected to be fully active in more than 1,000 delivery vans this year. The goal is to make delivery faster and more accurate so that delivery drivers don’t have to sort through what’s in their vans. Instead there will be a little green light displayed on the packages to be chosen based on the van’s location.
According to Amazon: “Once the van arrives at a delivery location, VAPR will automatically project a green “O” on all packages that will be delivered at that stop and a red “X” on all other packages. Through an audio and visual cue, VAPR will prompt the driver, confirming it has found the right packages, before the driver needs to enter the cargo area. The technology also removes the need for drivers to use a mobile device throughout the process.”
Why should a business owner care? While Amazon has now exceeded the shipping volumes of both Fedex and UPS, their competitors are still huge and we can expect them to be using similar AI technologies to improve their logistics. And soon businesses that do their own deliveries will ultimately be available to sign on to similar platforms. Expect this to be core tech for anyone delivering a package in the next few years.
3. Helping merchants sell their products
Last September, the company announced Project Amelia, a “generative AI-based selling expert” targeted towards their third party merchants to help them design their sites, choose which products to offer and offer overall “answers, advice, and tools they need to succeed.”
The chatbot’s aim, over the long term, is to get familiar with the reseller’s business and products so that it can offer very personalized responses to questions like “how do I prepare for the holiday season,” or “give me an analysis of my T-shirt sales.” For now, Amelia’s best uses are a natural language reporting interface for retrieving information but going forward the company says it will be able to troubleshoot and fix problems with a merchant’s site and offer other support capabilities.
Why should a business owner care? If you’re an Amazon merchant you should take advantage of these tools, both in their current and future states, to help you sell more products on their platform. But of course, you don’t have to be an Amazon merchant to benefit. You can bet that many of their e-commerce competitors will be watching, duplicating and implementing similar features as they roll out.
4. Elevating voice commands
Wired recently reported on a “complete rebuild” underway of Amazon’s Alexa and Echo devices, using AI in two ways. The first is a heavy reliance on AI for code-building so that new features can be written faster and changes introduced timelier. Secondly, and as changes rollout this summer, users of these devices (and I’m one of them) will find themselves enjoying a more human-like, personalized experience to get news, information and do their shopping.
Why should a business owner care? Because Alexa and Echo devices will ultimately be used to perform voice-activated tasks like ordering products, researching information and — assuming the development tools are made available — be integrated with our business applications to eliminate typing and allow our employees to talk to our accounting, CRM and other information systems.
5. Powering robots in their warehouse
Amazon has made it no secret that robotics are the core technology behind their warehouse management practices. And just this past week the company announced the deployment of its one millionth robot, using a “new generative AI foundation model that will improve robot fleet travel efficiency by 10 percent.” The company promises that their investment in robotics will lead to faster delivery times and lower costs for customers and — to be politically correct — has re-emphasized their commitment to training their existing employees to prepare for the AI future.
Why should a business owner care? The cost of robotics has been dramatically increasing while their capabilities have been dramatically increasing, thanks to AI. Amazon, with its deep pockets, has been investing in this technology for years, so they have a head start. But thanks to the investments made by larger companies, many robotics companies have developed machines that will use AI to perform functions in warehouses, restaurants, retail stores, manufacturing plants and construction sites in a safer, more effective way than most humans. For business owners that can’t find enough people to do this stuff, this will soon be a must have.
6. Reducing accounting errors
Optical character recognition, where information on a document can be read and then brought into a database has been around for a while. But now with advances in AI, these systems can not only extract data but better understand what to do with it. Amazon is leaning into this stuff heavily to help pay sales taxes and other accounting functions.
According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal the company’s finance teams “are turning to generative AI in areas such as fraud detection, contract review, financial forecasting, personal productivity, interpretation of rules and regulations, and tax-related work, moves in part aimed at reducing costs, boosting efficiencies and increasing accuracy, company executives said. These use cases are in a mix of experimentation and implementation stages.”
Why should a business owner care? Amazon’s not the only one in this game. Similar capabilities are being rolled out by numerous accounting and business software companies for use by smaller companies too. As with Amazon, buyer beware, because their technologies are also in a “mix of experimentation and implementation” so don’t be relying on them too quickly. But as they get trained they’ll get better and as a result the back offices of many small businesses will perform more efficiently and accurately.
So yes, Amazon’s doing lots with AI. And yes, business owners should care.
