According to Gartner, by 2025 at least two of the top 10 global retailers will establish robot resource organisations to manage nonhuman workers, as new digital technologies and ever-changing customer expectations force the introduction of technologies such as AI, automation and robotics.
The analyst says 77% of retailers plan to deploy AI by 2021, with the top use case being the deployment of robotics for warehouse picking. Warehouse picking involves smart robots working independently or alongside humans. In the future, retailers will establish units within the organisation to procure, maintain, train, tax, decommission and dispose of robot resources, as well as create the governance required to ensure people and robots collaborate effectively.
Many retail workers want to use AI as an on-demand or predictive assistance, meaning robots will need to work alongside-- or "mesh"-- with the human team. In other words, both humans and robots will need to learn how to "collaborate" in order to operate effectively together. For example, an autonomous robotic kitchen worker must learn the specific recipes of the operator, and prepare them accordingly. In turn, the operators are adapting to changing consumer tastes.
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