Automated Grocery Stores, Coming to a Neighborhood Near You!
On Monday, January 22nd, the first automated grocery store opened in Seattle. Amazon Go, opened its doors to the world with an (almost) fully automated store. With having only a handful of employees to prepare food in the kitchen and to verify ID's for alcohol and tobacco-related purchases, the store is fully independent of having human workers.
The opening of the store was originally to be December 2016. With such a delay, Amazon explains that it took time to train their machine-learning algorithms that are also coupled with the concept of computer vision.
Now, at this point in reading into the store, I began to wonder...How does a fully automated grocery store even run? What is the check-out process like? What's implemented into the store to prevent shoplifting?
Well, upon further reading, I found that the store requires every shopper to log into their Amazon account, and download an 'Amazon Go' app. Then, through the complex algorithms implemented into the store, whatever items you bag and take with you, you will then be billed accordingly to your Amazon account. Another thing that I found fascinating is that the algorithm within the store is advanced enough to be able to determine if you are bagging an item to take with you, just picking up an item to read the label/nutrition facts, and if you end up setting the item back in another location in the store! Additionally, even if somebody tried to shoplift the store, the algorithms are precise enough to detect it, and that individual would be billed accordingly.
To me, this idea of automated grocery stores is very intriguing! Especially in regards to Amazon's machine learning and computer vision algorithms that are implemented within the grocery store. I think that this concept will be a start of a new chain of grocery stores (powered by Amazon too, no doubt). What do you guys think about this automated store? Do you think that the Amazon Go store will become the next local super-store? How do you think the machine learning algorithms implemented in the store will affect A.I. development in general?
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It is a cool idea. I feel like this article relates back to the fear of AI taking over our jobs. Now we have AI running whole stores. If this turns out to be a big success we may see many more stores turn to self automation leading to many jobs lost. Just looking at the comments in the article it seems some people are concerned about jobs being lost and having cameras and sensors watching their every move throughout the store.
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ReplyDeleteI think it depends on 1) if the community wants the store and 2) if Amazon wants their store to be there. I remember recently that Rock Island was supposed to get a Walmart, then backed out, so even a supercorporation like Walmart didn't want to stick around here. Maybe it will spread to Chicago and New York and Portland first, but I think it will be a long time before it hits smaller communities than cities such as those.
ReplyDeleteI assumed the Amazon Go Store would have some human employees, so at least it's not completely "taking jobs."
There's already videos out about experiences in the store, included on trending on Youtube (the title is clickbait-y, but it's pretty informative).
I heard that they are handling returns/refunds on the honor system because they have no way or returning products at this time. So, if you buy a sandwich you can return it and there is nothing that you have to do and you can still eat the sandwich. This handles the problem of what happens if you accidentially charged for the wrong product. But now people can exploit this system, but amazon claims that the amount of money they save due to not having to pay for labor/delivery they will easily make up for it.
ReplyDeleteThere is also concern for privacy/metadata. People believe that amazon may be tracking your shopping habbits while in the store, such as movement, time spent looking at a product, etc.
Also since amazon has recently aquired whole foods it is likely we will see few amazon stores and a lot of this technology in your local whole foods.
I definitely agree with the privacy concerns. According to the linked article from The Verge, Amazon doesn't have any mechanism in place to report errors (accidental shoplifting). I wonder if this goes the other way as well. If it charges you incorrectly, is it just like you said on the honor system, where they will believe you that your purchase was charged incorrectly? Or can they stick you with purchases you didn't actually make (intentionally or unintentionally)?
DeleteI also wonder: The article says, "Revealing that there’s not even a feature to tell Amazon you’ve taken something without paying is rather telling. It suggests the company is so confident in its system that it hasn’t built out any protocol for or safeguard against missing items." I'm personally skeptical that this is just "Amazon is so confident in its system", and I suspect that Amazon isn't actually super concerned with how much money this makes them. I suspect it's largely a publicity stunt showing off that they can do it.
I think that right now Amazon only want to test out the store, and not care about the money. Maybe in the future they will put in more security measure. At the same time, I'm certain they will record our behavior and use it for advertising, and maybe that will make up for their shoplifting lost.
DeletePersonally I would not shop at the automated Amazon store. I don't have a problem with the automation, but I don't want to have to sign in before entering a store. Seems like a lot of hassle. And what if I can't remember my password? My browser remembers that for me usually.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there is my big brother paranoia in the back of my mind, which Daniel mentioned. I don't want to see adds all over the internet for eggs just cause I wanted an omelet for breakfast.
That being said, I think it is a cool idea and wouldn't be surprised if more stores moved toward this model.
What if it could sign you in with facial recognition?
DeleteI would worry that it wasn't working properly, and bill me for someone's groceries when I was never in the store. And what if someone wearing a mask like my face walked in? Seems like it would be an easy system to fool at least with today's tech.
DeleteThe automation of the grocery store is such an interesting concept. Would it even be possible to steal from this store? Would there be some way to cover the RFID on items to prevent the auto-billing? Who knows. I like the idea that there are no longer theft sensors needed however. One of the questions I had here was where does the machine learning dome into play in these automated stores? Does the store start noticing trends of products or of its customers? Does it learn that certain products sell better so it stocks more variations of them? I think it could be applied in many ways but didn't know where exactly it does right now.
ReplyDeleteI would bet Amazon could gather a lot of data about consumers using this type of model. It would be easy for them to match dates and products to someone's amazon account--not that they don't already do this through the website. Although convenient, I don't particularly like the idea of having my spending habits tracked more than necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading this article I wondered about the whole sign in process. Like what happens if you don't sign into the app before going into the store? Or what if someone somehow gets into the store and they don't have an amazon account/didn't sign in? Then can they take whatever they want without getting charged? I would assume they would have security systems for all this but I just got curious.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think Kevin has a good point about Amazon gathering data. If the amazon automated stores became popular, I could really see Amazon collecting huge amounts of data on the consumers.
Well the actual utility of this is seems a bit weak to me. Even if amazon gets this thing to work out properly, and it isn't just an experiment or a flexing of financial muscles, what do we as consumers get out of it? Avoiding interaction with store clerks? Sparing yourself the modicum of brain power it takes to shop for groceries? These don't seem like big wins for consumers. They seem like niche desires for amazon clientele. The benefit is all towards amazon financially. Less workers to pay, easier scheduling, more efficient ways to restock misplaced product. Even the small amount lost from shoplifting. But anyone can shop at a grocery store. Only amazon account holders can shop at this store. I can understand wanting to create a more high-quality feeling environment for valued customers. But until something like this benefits the consumers more than amazon itself, I don't think people will spring for it past the initial fanfare.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. This seems like how people used to think that mega bookstores would drive out all of the small bookstores, but since the prime utility of mega bookstores was selection, and the internet offers infinite selection, they are going out of business while small bookstores are thriving on people who want a more personal experience. In the grocery example, people who want to save time and effort will just order their groceries online and have them delivered to their house, while people who want social interaction will want farmers markets or small groceries. Therefore, the utility that the automated grocery store offers compared to a consumer's other options seems limited.
DeleteI am curious to know what kind of algorithms they use. They must have a super powerful AI with a perfect computer vision to be able to run this. Also, how do they ensure you have logged into your Amazon account? Do employees stop you in the entrance to see that you logged in?
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I think that this store is super cool, and it's a great way of using AI. It makes life so much easier for shoppers. I understand that it might take jobs out of people, but I don't think that will happen. This will only be available to kind of higher-middle and higher social class, it's not something everyone will use since not everyone has an Amazon account. I don't think this store will completely overtake the usual grocery stores, so technically it will not be taking jobs out of people. I just think that this is a great luxurious good that is very convenient.
Personally, I think this is a very creative and very *dangerous* take on machines replacing jobs. If it works then sure, I'm in love with the idea. As an introvert nothing excites me more than the idea of walking into a store, getting what I need, and just leaving. However, what if it doesn't work? I've already seen videos online of people successfully stealing goods from these stores. It makes me wonder how this would ever be perfected.
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