How AI is changing shopping
Stores are adopting a system that “reads” the products you take from their shelves and charges you automatically. How safe and reliable is it, and is it a threat to our jobs?
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Our weekly shopping experience has changed dramatically over the past few decades – along with the number of people hired by the big supermarkets.
You may be shocked to learn that there’s another big change just around the corner.
Not so long ago, it was common to encounter two staff members at a supermarket checkout – one to ring up your purchases and another (often a school student working part-time) to pack your shopping bags.
Then came the single-operator checkout, where either the person at the till packed our bags or we had to do that ourselves.
After that came the self-service checkout, with just one staff member supervising a whole bank of machines that we’re expected to operate ourselves.
But even that’s becoming old hat. Consider this scenario:
You walk into the supermarket, choose products from the shelf and, once you have what you want, you leave the store – without going through a checkout, be it staffed or self-service.
No, you are not committing a crime, because payment will automatically be made through your supercharged credit-card account.
This is already a reality for many European shoppers and it is probably coming to a supermarket near you relatively soon.
The technology that lets you bypass the checkout has been developed by a company called AiFi (pronounced “eye-fi”), which has partnered with Mastercard to create a seamless shopping experience.
The Ai part of the name, of course, refers to artificial intelligence, and this is just one example of how it is affecting every part of our lives.
The system – an advance on tech already available in Australia where customers can scan their items as they take them off the shelves – works thanks to hundreds of cameras situated around the store. These cameras record which products go into your shopping trolley and are taken out of the shop.
To use it, you tap your credit card as you enter the store, and Mastercard takes a $1 payment to ensure your account is valid. That money is subtracted from the purchase amount or refunded if you leave without buying anything.
It is being trialled in Europe, including by German supermarket giant Aldi and Polish retailer Zabka, which has plans to roll out 1,300 “autonomous” stores in coming months.
The technology is said to make the consumer experience easier and help retail researchers develop “spatial intelligence” – an understanding of how consumers move around the shop. This, in turn, will help improve the design of supermarkets and other public buildings.
AiFi says its mission is “to understand and optimise the spaces in which we live, work, and interact using our world-class spatial intelligence technology”.
Sireesh Nallathigal, Aldi’s country development director, says: “By collaborating with AiFi, we aim to gain new and meaningful insights into our customers and lay the data-driven foundations for levels of operational excellence.”
The tech is also being developed for use in sporting stadiums, service stations, and transport hubs. It was demonstrated at the Australian Open in Melbourne, at a pop-up store selling snacks and drinks to spectators.
AiFi’s chief executive, Steve Carlin, has pointed to some of the advantages of the tech, including eliminating waiting time at checkouts and improved overall efficiency.
But the big question for consumers is: how reliable and safe is it?
In Australia, there have already been complaints about the self-checkout technology being used at supermarkets.
One Woolworths customer said she was charged nearly $50 for a $6 book – because it was identified as a pack of eight rather than a single item. Even supermarket staff could not override the error.
What comeback would a customer have if overcharged by the new tech – especially if there are no staff on hand? This is an area where legislation, or an update to the powers of state and federal consumer watchdogs, may be needed.
And, because the cameras watch you while you shop, they could be used to gather data about your shopping habits and, by extension, your lifestyle. Maybe you want to keep that to yourself – although you might be surprised at how much they already know about you, especially if you use a loyalty card.
Another negative to the technology – and this could be a deal breaker for many older Australians – is that there is no option for cash payment. If you want to Keep Cash, this is not for you.
A major downside will be the loss of jobs, as humans will no longer be required in the checkout process, perhaps not even in a supervisory role.
It’s also just one example of robots replacing humans, which is set to become a huge issue in coming years and decades.
Tech billionaire, and presidential sidekick, Elon Musk, said last year that “probably none of us will have jobs” in the future.
That is a enormous cause of concern, not just for seniors but for all future generations.
Related reading: Yahoo! Finance, CNN, Smart Company
