Amazon is trialling humanoid robots in its US warehouses, in the latest sign of the tech giant automating more of its operations.

科技巨头亚马逊正在其美国仓库试用类人机器人，这是亚马逊的运营进一步走向自动化的最新迹象。

Amazon said the move was about "freeing employees up to better deliver for our customers".

亚马逊表示，这一举措是为了“解放员工的双手，为我们的客户提供更好的送货服务”。

It said it was testing a new robot called Digit, which has arms and legs and can move, grasp and handle items in a similar fashion to a human.

亚马逊称，目前正在测试一种名叫Digit的新机器人，这款机器人有胳膊有腿，可以像人一样移动、抓握和处理物品。

A union said Amazon had "been treating their workers like robots for years".

一家工会称，亚马逊“多年来一直像对待机器人一样对待自己的员工”。

"Amazon's automation is [a] head-first race to job losses. We've already seen hundreds of jobs disappear to it in fulfilment centres," said Stuart Richards, an organiser at UK trade union GMB.

英国工会GMB的组织者斯图亚特·理查兹表示：“亚马逊的自动化加速了失业。我们发现配送中心有数百个职位已经消失。”

As the announcement was made, Amazon said its robotics systems had in fact helped create "hundred of thousands of new jobs" within its operations. "This includes 700 categories of new job types, in skilled roles, which didn't exist within the company beforehand," the firm said.

亚马逊在宣布启用新机器人的同时表示，他们的机器人系统事实上帮助创造了“数十万个新业务岗位”，“包括公司原来没有的700个新技术工种。”

According to the tech giant, it now has more than 750,000 robots working "collaboratively" with its human staff, often being used to take on "highly repetitive tasks".

据亚马逊称，现在有逾75万个机器人与人类员工“协同”工作，这些机器人往往承担的是“高度重复的任务”。

Amazon Robotics' chief technologist, Tye Brady, told reporters at a media briefing in Seattle that people were "irreplaceable", and disputed the suggestion that the company could have fully-automated warehouses in the future.

亚马逊机器人公司的首席技术专家泰伊·布雷迪在西雅图的一场媒体简报会上告诉记者，人是“不可替代的”，并驳回了关于亚马逊未来实现仓库全自动化的建议。

"There's not any part of me that thinks that would ever be a reality," he said.

他表示：“我一点都不认为这会成为现实。”

"People are so central to the fulfilment process; the ability to think at a higher level, the ability to diagnose problems."

“配送过程中人是不可缺少的；人能够在更高层次上思考，能够诊断问题。”

Amazon has ramped up its use of robots in recent years, as pressure has grown to cut costs.

随着缩减成本的压力越来越大，亚马逊近年来对机器人的运用迅速增加。

Last year it announced it was trialling a giant robotic arm that can pick up items. It already uses wheeled robots to move goods around its warehouses, and it has started using drones for delivery in two US states.

去年亚马逊宣布在试用一种能够捡拾物品的巨型机器人手臂。亚马逊已经在自己的仓库周围使用轮式机器人来搬运货物，并开始在美国的两个州使用无人机来送货。