Walmart is embracing a robot takeover in order to compete with Amazon. The Arkansas-based firm is using robots to fulfill grocery orders in one of its Supercenters and is set to add shelf-scanning machines to 650 additional stores by the end of the summer. The shift is aimed at reducing costs, improving store performance and gaining credibility in its battle against to reign supreme as the king of retail. Walmart announced it would soon incorporate automated robotic carts, called Alphabots, in one of its superstores in Salem, New Hampshire in 2018. Walmart is using robots to fulfill grocery orders in one of its Supercenters and is set to add shelf-scanning machines (pictured) to 650 additional stores by the end of the summer.

The future for contactless product delivery is already here, and a pandemic seems to already be moving this trend forward. It just needs companies to implement and customers to accept the new delivery and tracking methods, along with other innovations, that will make this so. When this happens, we may one day look back and quietly thank the lowly coronavirus for catapulting us into a brighter future. One of the more iconic images from the early days of this disease comes from late March 2020, during San Francisco's citywide coronavirus lockdown, when "aspiring drone racing pilot" David Chen delivered a single roll of much-needed toilet paper to his friend Ian Chan in another part of the city. Chan captured the delivery on video and posted it to his Twitter feed, which ironically went viral.

An Amazon warehouse is a flurry of activity. Towering hydraulic arms lift heavy boxes toward the rafters. And an army of stubby orange robots slide along the floor like giant, sentient hockey pucks, piled high with towers of consumer gratification ranging from bestsellers to kitchenware. Those are Kiva robots, once the marvel of warehouses everywhere. Amazon whipped out its wallet and threw down US 775 million to purchase these robot legions in 2012.

An Amazon warehouse is a flurry of activity. Towering hydraulic arms lift heavy boxes toward the rafters. And an army of stubby orange robots slide along the floor like giant, sentient hockey pucks, piled high with towers of consumer gratification ranging from bestsellers to kitchenware. Those are Kiva robots, once the marvel of warehouses everywhere. Amazon whipped out its wallet and threw down 775 million to purchase these robot legions in 2012.

We analyzed which jobs are most -- and least -- at risk, given factors including tasks involved, the current commercial deployment of technology, patent activity, regulations, and more. Meanwhile, several big corporations have open sourced their AI software libraries in recent years -- another major accelerant for AI. Our time frame was the next 5-10 years, and the relative risk of automation was based on factors including tasks involved, current commercial deployment of technology, patent activity, investment activity, technological challenges, and regulations. Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures recently funded burger-flipping robot Mometum Machines (funding and patents below).