Technological advancements: Is retail ready for A.I.?

BY STEVEN KASZAB

The EU is going all out regarding the addition of applied artificial intelligence into their store planning and services plans. One such thing we will all know about, soon enough is digital/automated self-checkout.

This technology is a God send to the retail world, saving retail immeasurable costs such as:

• Check out machinery is a one-time expense with updates and maintenance only.
• The payroll costs of a retailer will be shaved drastically, eliminating cashiers, or having these employees applied to sales and customer service.
• In order to use and be connected with this technology customers will have to go through security procedures and offer further personal and financial information to the retailer’s controller. More information, more ways to promote and sell to customers.
• A cashless, credit card less retail experience will free customers from exit hesitation, currency and credit card fraud at the cash desk.

Has the retailer gone to financial profiteering heaven, or are they fooling themselves, allowing technological firms to sell them a refrigerator they do not really need. Bright and shiny, but with no real assurance, or security guarantee. Problem is, most of these high-tech firms have experienced glitches, and non-ending criminal attacks that these firms have no answer on how to end. Is this technology just another avenue the fraudsters in our lives can attack the customer, the retailer and the banking system that it all is based upon?

You pick up what you want, and dash away showing your phone device to a scanner. New meaning of “dash and grab.” All sounds satisfying until you hear about large scale hacking of the retailers and banks you are participating with. A partnership of retailer-banking system-customer often fails because one of these partnerships is financially invaded by a hacker, a computer robot which can put a person, or organization into financial limbo until they pay the hacker a fee. U.K. retail lost over two billion pounds due to criminality. Companies like Autonomo’s Deep Tech promise to free retailers from often massive unforeseen financial losses. Their technology works, and customers appreciate the convenience of check-out free technology.

This sort of technology has not been properly used over time to prove itself infallible. There are further applications used in Germany where digital devices are implanted, or placed upon a customer which they can simply wave as they enter and leave a retail venue.

Time will tell if such technology frees us from our past retail/consumer nightmares, or are we simply walking into another disaster.