Bots are creating a digital divide for Amazon food delivery
Grocery delivery services are in high demand, with stay-at-home orders in place nationwide. In some cities, people have reported not being able to find a delivery time slot for weeks at a time. VICE’s Motherboard investigates a series of bots that give some people an advantage when limited delivery slots are available from Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods. The bots serve as a tool to automatically search for available delivery time slots, then select and complete a customer’s order. But for high-risk, low-tech communities like the elderly, these services are not as accessible, and could end up permanently edging them out of delivery options.
