Business Owners
Businesses should definitely be aware of the potential negative consequences of such technology as well, since they’re the ones investing in it. Firstly, many consumers are already concerned about privacy issues with revealing their shopping habits, and being under further surveillance would only add to those concerns. Amazon already uses people’s shopping history to further cater products to people, so it’s not unrealistic that they would use in-store data for the same purposes down the line. The tech would also remove yet another layer of human interaction from daily life—which I realize might seem like a positive for those who are uncomfortable with social interactions—but is still important to acknowledge on a societal scale (which was more evident than ever during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic). These reasons may drive away potential consumers, and have the adverse effect of alienating the already current customer base.
It should also be noted that cashiers really only make up a small part of how grocery stores function. Logistically, you still need people to clean up, manage stock, organize shelves, and more—which are exceptionally more difficult to replace roles. Even in the event that cashiers are successfully replaced, the operation will still necessitate humans at the core to ensure it runs correctly. This is all to say that given AI’s current capabilities, it’s a fruitless effort to try and jump the gun by implementing the tech early. “[W]e keep hearing that automation and AI are tools to remove boring and repetitive tasks. Amazon’s example reveals that isn’t yet possible in a real-world environment, at least not without remote workers overseeing the whole transaction.” [2] Human labor will continue to be necessary until this technology proves to work independently, so it doesn’t make sense to waste billions in forcing it upon customers right away.