Artificial intelligence (AI) and smart algorithms are going to make their appearance in the supermarket in the near future. These technologies mean the end of the occasional thief. We need not worry that our privacy will be affected.
Jumbo said last week that theft is a big problem. In its annual report, the supermarket chain wrote that by 2023 consumers had stolen some 100 million euros worth of food. And Jumbo has a hard time with that, because it comes at the expense of its financial results. In 2022, net profit was 80 million euros. That is unlikely to be achieved in 2023. Despite the fact that the thefts come at the expense of profitability, Jumbo is lowering the prices of many products next year.
Retailing experts say self-scanning checkouts facilitate thefts. Customers "forget" to scan a product, so it is not charged and paid for. Getting rid of the self-scanning checkouts is not an option: research shows that the presence of self-scanning checkouts is a major reason why they do their shopping at a specific store. Moreover, the self-scanning checkouts free up more floor space and allow supermarkets to use their staff elsewhere, for example as shelf fillers.
Jumbo is trying to reduce the number of thefts. For example, random spot checks are conducted, risk profiles of customers with bonus cards are maintained and luxury products have stickers with a sensor that signals if the product has not been scanned.
Retail expert Eelco Hos predicts that we may start seeing major improvements in the near future. He thinks supermarkets will adopt AI systems. "That system constantly checks with cameras what is bought and scanned. If you don't scan something, it can immediately block handling on the device and say: dear customer, would you please scan all your products?" he told Quote. In his view, this technology makes it impossible for the occasional thief to steal.
Hos is not concerned that the use of artificial intelligence and smart algorithms is an invasion of our privacy. "This is all legally substantiated with piles of tomes, including at the European level. Many other countries are already running these systems." Furthermore, the retail expert says the data is so well anonymized that it cannot be used in a police report.
In a column in the Volkskrant, lawyer and technology consultant Danny Mekić warns that the relationship between shopkeeper and customer will change if supermarkets deploy AI against shoplifting. He does worry that our privacy will be compromised if supermarkets use artificial intelligence.
"Mutual trust and respect must give way to distrust, control and repression because that is more profitable than letting the customer check off a cheese sandwich unspoiled and uninhibited by a checkout clerk. But once we open the door to AI surveillance for profit maximization, it sets yet another precedent for further invasions of our privacy and freedom in other facets of life."
Mekić fears that supermarkets will go one step further. As examples, he cites the introduction of an identification requirement before you can walk into a store, or using facial recognition to avoid long lines at the passport scan. "The irony of progress: self-checkouts increase shareholder profits, but also increase shoplifting. And to further increase profits, supermarkets now want to steal our privacy with AI surveillance."
