Amazon’s AI cameras are punishing drivers for mistakes they didn’t make

# · 🔥 230 · 💬 127 · 2 years ago · www.vice.com · echo_hessel · 📷
In February, Amazon announced that it would install cameras made by the AI-tech startup Netradyne in its Amazon-branded delivery vans as an "Innovation" to "Keep drivers safe." As of this month, Amazon had fitted more than half of its delivery fleet nationwide with this technology, an Amazon spokesperson told Motherboard. Motherboard spoke to six Amazon delivery drivers in California, Texas, Kansas, Alabama, and Oklahoma, and the owner of an Amazon delivery company in Washington who said that rather than encourage safe driving, Netradyne cameras regularly punish drivers for so-called "Events" that are beyond their control or don't constitute unsafe driving. Amazon delivery drivers and delivery companies, known as "Delivery service partners," which contract with Amazon and employ drivers, have reported losing income from erroneous citations registered by Netradyne. One current Amazon delivery driver in Oklahoma, who asked to remain anonymous because he feared retaliation from Amazon and his delivery company, told Motherboard that the biggest problem with Netradyne cameras is the frequency with which they detect false stop sign violations. "Most drivers at my company cover the cameras up with stickers, because the cameras get to be a nuisance," an Amazon delivery driver who works at an Amazon delivery station in Shepherdsville, Kentucky told Motherboard. Motherboard spoke to four drivers and the owner of an Amazon delivery company who said it isn't possible under most circumstances for an Amazon delivery company to appeal erroneous violations with Amazon, although Amazon does have an automated portal for the appeal process where delivery companies can submit a feedback ticket to Amazon and dispute "Events." A spokesperson for Amazon told Motherboard that a team of Amazon employees manually reviews all events that are appealed to ensure that erroneous events do not impact drivers or Amazon delivery companies.
Amazon’s AI cameras are punishing drivers for mistakes they didn’t make



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