The Chinese robot army transforming the UK's retail industry | BBC News

改变英国零售业的中国机器人大军

Every time you click "buy" on an online order, the chances are that your purchase starts getting processed within minutes.

Increasingly, the journey starts with a squat silver floor robot gliding beneath a storage rack, lifting a shelf and carrying it across a warehouse to a waiting worker.

At Geek+'s factory in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, fleets of the robots are built and tested before being shipped to warehouses around the world.

Some of Britain's biggest retailers - including Tesco, Asda and Next - now use the company's technology.

每当你点击网购订单的 “购买” 按钮，你的订单往往几分钟内就会开始处理。

如今，这一流程越来越多由一台银色的低矮地面机器人开启：它滑到货架下方，举起货架，将其运送到仓库里等候作业的工人面前。

在中国东部城市合肥的极智嘉工厂内，大批机器人完成组装与测试，随后发往全球各地的仓库。

英国多家大型零售商，包括乐购、阿斯达、耐克斯特，目前都在使用这家企业的技术。

以下是各国网友的评论：

ivantan5690
When you can't compete in terms of efficiency, the best way is to accuse your competitors of "overcapacity"

如果在效率上拼不过对手，最省事的手段就是指责竞争对手“产能过剩”。

 

reno0405g
UK has overcapacity for former prime ministers and candidates.

英国别的没有，前首相和竞选政客倒是一抓一大把。

 

kennyyodune1727
"But at what cost?!" China: "At lower cost."

“可这背后要付出什么代价？！”中国：“代价就是成本压得更低。”

 

BC-cg2vy
BBC is becoming so obsessed with China that they even forgot to say "But at what cost"

BBC现在天天盯着中国报道，居然连那句老生常谈的“可代价是什么”都忘了说。

 

markvelber8664
No boundaries of jealousy

嫉妒之心毫无底线。

 

weilin4872
BBC haven't got money from CIA these days
So they betrayed their America ally.

最近BBC拿不到中情局的钱了，所以就背叛了美国这个盟友。

 

vfclists
There is no short of labour in the UK, only a shortage of decent wages, meaning wages which enable people to pay for food, rent and energy and raise children while they are at it.

英国并不缺劳动力，缺的只是一份像样的薪水。这份工资得够吃饭、交房租、付能源账单，还得养得起孩子。

 

DragonYang01
The ratio of cost of living and wage determines the affordability. If the robots and AI can improve efficiency, the cost of good should have decreased. However, in the West, the saving goes to the pocket of employers and investors. In China, the cost of living is far lower than UK, so as the wages. chinese holds tight control of these essential goods (food, clothes, etc) or services (electricity, transportation, etc). chinese voluntarily triggered the collapse of its housing market, citing that houses are for living, not for financial manipulation. Think about it. If the housing in UK is 25% of its values, who win and who lose?

生活成本和工资的比值，决定老百姓能不能负担得起生活。机器人和人工智能提升效率之后，商品本该降价。但在西方，省下来的成本全都进了老板和投资者的腰包。中国的生活成本远低于英国，工资水平也相应更低。中国严格管控食品、衣物这类必需品，还有电力、交通这类公共服务。中国主动让楼市降温，坚持房子是用来住的，不是用来炒的。试想，如果英国房价跌到现在的四分之一，谁会得利，谁又会受损？

 

WarNinjaZak
The problem isn’t wages, it’s the price of houses/land. There is no world in which wages could have tracked the exponential house price growth we’ve experienced over the past 3 decades

问题根源不是工资，而是房价和地价。过去三十年间房价暴涨，工资根本不可能跟得上这种涨幅。

 

tgr5772
People in this country have themselves to blame. Everybody wants to be paid high wages whether or not they deserve it. If you distort the pay differentials you end up with a low‑tech society. Window cleaners and plumbers can earn more than doctors and engineers and way more than teachers and scientists. That's why we are behind and that is why our education system is so bad.

这个国家的人要怪就怪自己。不管配不配得上，人人都想要高薪。薪资结构一旦失衡，整个社会的科技水平就会停滞。擦玻璃、修水管的收入能超过医生、工程师，更是远高于教师和科研人员。这就是我们发展落后、教育体系糟糕的原因。

 

vfclists
@tgr5772 What are you talking about? There is no such thing as high wages. In the past a single wage earner could afford to by a home AND take care of a family. When both working couples struggle to raise a family something is wrong with the wage structure.
The economic system is now one of artificial housing shortages coupled with rent extracting oligopolies in services and utilities

你在说什么？根本不存在所谓高薪。过去一个人上班，就能买房养家。现在夫妻两人都打工，养活家庭都很吃力，说明薪资体系已经出问题。如今的经济现状是人为制造住房紧缺，再加上公用服务业的寡头坐地收租。

 

misterfunnybones
Maybe if they make robots really fat, then the US will feel better about them.

要是把机器人造得体型胖胖的，说不定美国就能接受它们了。

 

Cameron.Stuart.Adams.Fisher
Yes, obesity is problem in the US. However, it is a growing problem in the UK as well. In the UK the recorded obesity is nearly 30% of the population. Stones in glass houses comes to mind.

没错，肥胖是美国的一大难题，但英国肥胖问题也越来越严重，统计显示近三成国民肥胖。真是五十步笑百步。

 

zzzzzz‑xy7zg
Whenever the US cannot compete, it claims others are a security threat and uses unfair sanctions to block their trade.

只要美国竞争不过别人，就宣称对方是安全威胁，动用不合理的制裁去封锁贸易。

 

daktaricox
Inside warehouses across the world ‑ except for Wildberries.

全球各地仓库都在用，Wildberries平台除外。

 

peppi1974
They get drones with a surprise

他们拿到的无人机藏着意想不到的隐患。

 

everythingisfine9988
Wildberries is definitely using Chinese robots. Absolutely no doubt about that

Wildberries肯定在用中国机器人，这点毋庸置疑。

 

stanislavkindiakov6334
Therefore drones hurry up to get there

那无人机也赶紧进驻那边吧。

 

12theotherandrew
A remark in extremely bad taste.

这番言论实在低俗不堪。

 

qwertyu2989
Will US force UK to ban Chinese robots soon? I give it 3 months until it happens

美国会不会很快逼迫英国禁用中国机器人？我赌三个月之内就会发生。

 

polymorphus1
In China, a company can have as many Robots as they want. They're just not allowed to lay off workers. They have this weird idea that society exsts for the benefit of the people, not the profits of the corporations!

在中国，企业想用多少机器人都可以，但不能随意裁员。他们有个奇怪的理念：社会是为人民福祉服务，而不是只为企业利润服务！

 

vdimension6300
I think you meant economy exsts for the benefit of the people? Society is the people, so not sure how it can exst for the benefit of the people

你想说的应该是经济要造福人民吧？社会本身就是由人组成的，谈不上“为人民而存在”这种说法。

 

fingerprint8479
The Chinese are light years ahead of anyone else in just about all realms of human activity!

几乎在所有领域，中国都遥遥领先其他国家。

 

jarednovel
China used to buy robots from Europe and now China is teaching Europe how to make robots.

以前中国从欧洲进口机器人，现在轮到中国教欧洲造机器人。

 

Hystericall
The things that happen when you educate your people.

重视国民教育，才会出现这样的成果。

 

JohnFrenchNo1
I'd rather live under Chinese rule than any uk politician to be honest

说实话，比起英国政客，我宁愿接受中国的治理。

 

formercityboy9772
A: but at what cost ? B: overcapacity C: forced labor production D:all above

甲：可代价是什么？乙：产能过剩。丙：强迫劳动生产。丁：以上全是。

 

nbgoodiscore1303
A foreign government having this much influence in the country is gucci. But a British lad saying some hurty words on twitter is a threat to national security

外国政府在本国拥有这么大影响力就没事。可一个英国小伙子在推特说几句难听的话，反倒成了国家安全威胁。

 

t9j6c6j51
Obviously there’s no downside to this. Thanks BBC.

看样子这东西完全没有弊端，多谢BBC的报道。

 

Cvision2112
I always feel like someone is watching me, and I get no privacy.

我总感觉有人在监视我，一点隐私都没有。

 

thbdf3879
Distributing package is one of the most boring work Ive ever had. good to see robots replacing them.

分拣包裹是我干过最枯燥的活，机器人来替代这份工作挺好。

 

Johnnytheeye
So does that mean prices will come down considering there's less wages I very much doubt it

既然人力成本下降，商品价格会跟着降吗？我对此十分怀疑。

 

BMack‑p9s
No, it means they will go up to pay for the tech

并不会。为了摊薄这套技术的成本，物价反而会上涨。

 

darrenphillips4515
If people don't have jobs, who's going to buy the products if you can't afford them.

如果大家都失业，没钱消费，那谁来买这些商品。

 

keirenle
But at what cost? I heard the background said.

“可代价是什么？”我仿佛听见背景里有人这么发问。

 

GregoryHunt‑w8g
Thousands of “engineers and doctors” imported from Africa and India into UK and still there is “a laborers shortage at this moment”, 2:32 ? Come on Brits…

英国从非洲、印度引进成千上万所谓工程师、医生，结果还说现在劳动力短缺？别逗了英国人……

 

J.Cameron.Stuart.Adams.Fisher
"We seem to have a shortage of labor in the UK.". Tell that to the government which is struggling to meet its financial obligations because of the record spending on benefits. Those on benefits are not paying taxes. Without tax revenue the government does not the means to pay it's bills.

Each of the job killing robots must be taxed as if they were a full‑time employee making £50k annually.

“英国好像劳动力不足。”这话去跟政府说吧。政府福利开支创下新高，财政都快扛不住了。领救济的人不交税，没有税收，政府就无力还债。

凡是会抢走岗位的机器人，都应该按年薪5万英镑的全职员工标准来征税。

 

NeygarzruinedAmerica
Meanwhile the British govt worried about Ukraine instead of their own borders

可英国政府不去操心本国边境，反倒成天为乌克兰劳神。

 

srinivasanpalani6908
It would be nice UK gov./companies/unis develop robots in house rather than Chinese

英国政府、企业、高校要是能自主研发机器人，而不是用中国产品，那就再好不过。

 

markellwood4132
Reduce labour costs, so goods and services are cheaper, the price is passed on to the consumer.

降低人力成本，商品服务就会降价，实惠会给到消费者手上。

 

bm8641
These robots don't buy a £1 million garbage houses in UK.

这些机器人可不会去买英国价值一百万英镑的劣质房子。

 

TheSpude_P2P
weight sensors and battery output data better be secure

重量传感器和电池输出的数据，安全性可得做好。

 

243km
This is crazy.

这简直离谱。

 

EpForestLive
Warehouse workers who do picking, packing & loading will be obsolete

仓库里拣货、打包、装卸的工人，岗位会被彻底淘汰。

 

miltonlivramento4810
Macau is a leader in this area

澳门在该领域处于领先地位。

 

MichaelAyden
It absolutely does replace jobs. I worked in a warehouse where there were over 90 people picking orders on a single shift. When the robots arrived, that was cut to around 10–15 people, who now just stand in individual cubicles all day waiting for a robot to bring them an item. You’re always being watched and scrutinised. It’s soul‑destroying.

The job used to have a huge social aspect, but the isolated packing stations mean people barely speak to each other anymore. The whole warehouse ended up feeling sterile and cold. all my coworkers and Work friends gone. I no longer work there, and I don’t miss it. To me, it’s a dystopian nightmare.

机器人确实会取代人力。我之前在仓库上班，单班次就有90多人拣货。引入机器人之后，只留下10‑15个人，整天就站在独立隔间里，等着机器人把货物送过来。时时刻刻都被监控盯着，干这份工作很消磨人的精神。

以前工作还能和同事交流，现在工位互相隔开，大家几乎零沟通。整个仓库冷冰冰毫无生气，昔日的同事全都不见了。我已经离职，也不留恋这份工作，对我来说这就是反乌托邦噩梦。

 

davidcopplestone6266
I lost my job to robots. They moved the operation from the South to the Midlands; giving it to a third‑party.

我因为机器人丢了工作。公司把仓库业务从南部迁到中部，外包给第三方运营。

 

FireGeMw0w6
The US and UK wont admit it but theyre terrified of China lol

英美嘴上不肯承认，其实内心十分忌惮中国，哈哈。

 

kok5249
People objects to these developments never go near any warehouse house, let alone work in it. But they're happy to order their groceries and other things on line.

反对技术变革的人，从来没去过仓库，更别说在里面干活。但网购生活用品的时候倒是用得不亦乐乎。

 

StackOversteer
How do the products get into those blue crates in the first place?

话说回来，货物最开始是怎么装进那些蓝色周转箱的？

 

HappyARK1234
I love Chinese electronics, they're quality is the best in the world!

我很喜欢中国电子产品，品质是全球顶尖水平！

 

matthewvaughan8192
Good. We have 2 options: Go to America for Tech (proprietary, dynamic pricing, economically controlling, pretends to be the ethical one but their actions don’t match it,) or become strong trade partners with China (relatively open, efficient, cost‑effective, aren’t exactly secretive that their exports may be faulty or contain malware and data spyware.)

I’d rather go to the Country that is more honest. ‘This is what you’re getting, it’s not going to be perfect and you’ll need to research the reputation of who you’re buying from, but it is good value for money.’ American Tech just has stricter quality control. That’s it. It’s still spying on you, committing mass IP theft and harvesting everyone’s data, all while pretending they would never do such a thing.

At least China don’t pretend to be the good guy and are pretty up front that it’s all about money. At least they’re not recklessly hyper scaling for its own sake, and are maxmising what they have with a directly applicable route to market as opposed to America’s plan of ‘store now decrypt later’ and let’s build a bunch of empty giant data centres just in case we need them to beat China.

A noisy wolf in an android sheep’s skin propped up by money, or a quiet wolf in robotic armour that actually works? I’ll take the country that doesn’t coerce you into owning nothing through deceptive TOS & marketing. I mean, I like American and will buy their Tech, but not by force or under the duress of the global economy collapsing. Britain should become more pro‑China in future trade. America has made it 100% clear who their closest ally is, and it ain’t us. Even as a sovereign nation, purely due to proxmity, Europe are our biggest allies, and China should be our biggest import relationship moving forward, with cyber being our biggest export to whoever needs it and won’t cause trouble.

说得好。我们有两条路：买美国技术（技术封闭、价格浮动、搞经济控制，嘴上标榜道义，实际言行不一），或是和中国建立稳固贸易伙伴关系（相对开放、效率高、性价比高，也不刻意遮掩出口产品可能存在故障、恶意程序的风险）。

我宁愿选择更坦诚的一方。“东西就是这样，不可能十全十美，买家自己要核实商家口碑，但性价比实实在在。”美国产品只是质控更严格而已，仅此而已。它照样会监控你、大肆窃取知识产权、搜集所有人的数据，还装作绝不会干这种勾当。

至少中国不会伪装成道德完人，明明白白做生意就是为了利益。中国不会盲目疯狂扩张，而是依托现有条件对接真实市场。反观美国，搞“先加密留存，日后解密”，还大肆修建巨型空置数据中心，只为了要在竞争中压过中国。

一边是靠着金钱撑腰，披着科技羊皮大肆叫嚣的狼；另一边是身披实用机器人铠甲、行事低调的狼。我选那个不会靠虚假用户协议和营销，逼得你一无所有的国家。我不排斥美国产品，也愿意购买，但不该是被逼着买，更不该在全球经济崩溃的胁迫下妥协。英国未来贸易应该向中国倾斜。美国早已摆明态度，它最核心的盟友并不是我们。作为主权国家，地缘上欧洲是我们首要盟友，未来中国应当成为我们最大的进口来源。网络技术则作为我们的主要出口品，卖给安分守己的合作方。