Amazon is ditching its “Just Walk Out” checkout-free technology from Fresh grocery stores in the US nearly seven years after it was first announced.
Program activated customers register at an Amazon Fresh store with a credit card, mobile app or Amazon One palm readers, grab them straight off the shelves and “just walk out” with their stuff.
But reports this week showed that it wasn't actually AI technology doing all the work.
Although Amazon claims a system of scanners, video cameras and generative AI were powering the technology, around 700 out of every 1,000 Just Walk Out sales in 2022 had to go through human review by Amazon's India team. information reported this week.
The cashiers were out of the country, and they saw what American shoppers were picking up, putting down and leaving on video, according to the report.
Shop Amazon Fresh on March 04, 2021, with Just Walk Out purchases. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images
However, Amazon disputed how many purchases required human review, with Nathan Strauss, an Amazon spokesman, saying Retail dive that employees review “a small minority” of shopping visits if Amazon's technology fails to determine what a shopper left the store with.
“The characterization that the Just Walk Out technology relies on human reviewers is inaccurate,” Strauss said. “The primary role of our Machine Learning data collaborators is to annotate video images, which is necessary for the continuous improvement of the underlying machine learning model that powers the Just Walk Out technology.”
Connected: Amazon adds new AI for sellers as it plans its first 'Big Spring Sale'
information was the first to report that Amazon is removing Just Walk Out from most of its stores and instead replacing the technology with “Dash Carts” that keep track of what shoppers select and show a running total as they move through the store.
Shoppers can still skip the checkout line.
Amazon's smaller stores and UK grocery stores will still have Just Walk Out, according to threshold.
A September Amazon Blog Post shows that the company characterized Just Walk Out as a combination of computer vision, sensors and AI – without mentioning human review.
Connected: Amazon's $1 billion Innovation Fund is looking to invest in a specific type of startup
“Customer trust and privacy are central to the experience,” the post said, noting that Just Walk Out did not use or collect biometric information from shoppers.
Regarding SeptemberJust Walk Out was available in more than 70 Amazon stores and 85 third-party stores in the US, UK and Australia.