Amazon’s once-lauded ‘Just Walk Out’ technology is being scaled back after layoffs affecting its development team. Reports suggest the technology relied heavily on human involvement for transaction verifications, despite initial claims of AI reliance. The setback highlights the ongoing balance between cutting-edge technology and the need for human oversight in retail innovations.
Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” technology, first showcased in its Seattle store on January 22, 2018, was heralded as the future of retail. Customers could place items in their cart and exit the store without going through a traditional checkout. Recently, layoffs have affected developers of this technology, and it is being removed from 40 Amazon Fresh grocery stores.
According to reports, the technology relied not entirely on AI but on a significant workforce. Transactions were often verified by around 1,000 workers in India, who reviewed camera footage to confirm sales. Amazon refuted these claims, asserting that human involvement was primarily for training the AI.
Theo Wayt, a journalist from The Information, noted that while the technology was advanced, it needed frequent human oversight. Delays in receipt issuance were common due to manual verification, especially when customers picked up and put back items, leading to 700 reviews per 1,000 transactions in 2022.
Amazon will continue using the technology in smaller, third-party stores and a select number of Amazon Fresh locations. This practice of outsourcing labor for tasks like AI training is typical in the tech industry, often to countries with lower labor costs. By keeping human labor invisible, companies can appeal to investors by appearing more technologically advanced with reduced operational costs.
