You can’t fault Amazon’s timing. In the middle of a global pandemic, the online retailer has launched a new workplace surveillance tool that could help to slow Covid’s spread. Called AWS Panorama, it uses computer vision technology to analyse footage from security cameras in workplaces. It can detect when employees are not complying with social distancing rules, for example.
Amazon, which plans to sell the tool to other employers, says it can improve workplace safety in other ways, too. “Are people walking in spaces where they shouldn’t be? Is there an oil spill? Are they not wearing hard hats? These are real-world problems,” a senior executive told the FT.
It’s easy to see how the technology could help in the fight against Covid-19, since workplaces are a major source of transmission. It could reveal pinch points in factories where social distancing isn’t possible, for instance, which might prompt companies to redesign work processes. But, like any tool, the outcomes will depend on the people who wield it.