HIGH-TECH NATURAL INTELLIGENCE AND HUMAN VISION

Amazon has completely abandoned the «Just Walk Out» technology, where shoppers would take items and simply walk out of the store, bypassing checkouts and controls. The self-service system relied on multiple cameras, sensors and good old-fashioned human eyes to keep track of what people were leaving the store with and issue them the appropriate receipts.

In its piece, The Information reports that Just Walk Out’s technology only gave the illusion of automation from the beginning while Amazon touted its use of generative artificial intelligence. In reality, the «unmanned stores» were monitored and controlled by more than 1,000 real citizens of India, reviewing live camera footage and keeping track of items purchased.

Installing and maintaining the necessary equipment, as well as paying the labor of thousands of people is incredibly expensive, so Just Walk Out was implemented only in a part of Fresh stores in the United States. Shoppers, in turn, had their own problems, from long wait times for a check to erroneously or incorrectly placed orders and bounced checks. In other words, to do the work of one or two qualified cashiers in each store, it took a huge amount of high-precision equipment and 1,000 people looking at the monitors. What a hi-tech solution!

Taking a step away from the unfortunate example of Amazon, it must be said that the competent use of artificial intelligence can really help retail and other businesses to reduce the costs of personnel, services and security systems, increase their effectiveness and efficiency. Video analytics, behavioral analytics and forecasting, automation of video surveillance layout verification, real-time alerts — the integrated use of these tools can help optimize security and control costs.