I went to Sainsburys today. As I got to the self-checkouts, I could see there was a much bigger queue than usual. I soon found out why: they have just updated all of the self-checkouts, and the new software is glitchy. About half the people there checking out were requiring assistance from the staff, and the three staff members could barely keep up.
For a while now all of the self checkouts have had screens above them that record, or at least watch you while you scan. You can see yourself in the screen, I assume it’s to deter theft. I started scanning my items, and immediately I found out what the new software is. On the first item, the screen snapped an image of my face, and kept the image on screen above me, while the screen in front of me that shows the scanned items got a big warning flashing up on it, declaring that I had bagged an item that I hadn’t scanned.
Both screens froze like this, my face on the screen above with a message in huge letters on the screen below declaring to the entire shop I had bagged something without scanning. Declaring me a thief to the entire shop, even though I hadn’t done anything. Because the staff were so busy with all the glitches I had to wait there like this for about 10 minutes until someone would deal with it.
As I waited I watched the other checkouts and saw that this glitchy new tech was doing the same thing to other people. It seems ridiculous, it’s made the process longer, caused a bigger queue, and is wrongly accusing everyone of stealing. It seems counter-intuitive, they want more people to use self checkouts but this is going to put me off using them in future.
I dread to think what they’ll come up with next. Maybe they’ll eventually get rid of all cashiers and when the machine accuses you of stealing there will be no one to check your items and see that you haven’t. I wouldn’t be surprised if they have robot police waiting to arrest you for supposedly unscanned items soon.
And let’s not forget this is to stop starving, poverty-stricken people from accessing food in the only way some people have.
Wait until they have a robot dog walk up and taser you.
I recently lost my job working at a discount grocery store. Every time we clocked in we had to go through this facial recognition process that had us stand there and turn our heads as directed by this computer to build a fucking 3d model of us. Of course the owners swore up and down that this data was kept locally but I am 100% sure that was bullshit. Honestly I should have just quit the day they pulled that shit.
When I worked at a large supermarket (Wallmart - Asda) I would get patted down in and out of every shift, made to walk through a metal scanner and made to open my wallet to make sure I wasnt stealing anything.
They paid me minimum wage, I lasted about 2 months lol.
The consumers’ and workers’ value is only how much capital they can generate; any other consideration is incidental. The disdain for the human aspect of being is palpable in nearly every facet of life of the West.
This made me think about comparing the experience with how it’s done in China. Most convenience stores have a small terminal where you can self scan and scan your phone to pay. There are probably cameras, but definitely no sign accusing people of stealing. Then again crime is less common in large part because of people having economic opportunities. That said, there’s nearly always someone there, and grocery stores generally don’t use an automated system.
Then again crime is less common in large part because of people having economic opportunities.
Damn I wonder if anyone has ever written any books on how material conditions shape our social fabric
Time to wear a mask, grab a bagful, and skip the self-checkout entirely.
Here in the US, they won’t stop you and wearing a mask defeats any facial recognition software.
Careful about that. New AI face detection softwares can recreate your face even with mask and sunglasses on. I don’t know if they need a reference image for it but I don’t think so. There’s ways to defeat them but just wearing a mask is not enough anymore.
Grow your hair out, go big, then shave it all off.
Sounds worse than what I’ve seen in the US so far, but not much worse in spirit. Hope people push back…
But yeah, IME, grocery store designs for some time now are starting to embody a guilty until proven innocent mentality and it’s disturbing, especially considering that is one of the most essential places for survival under the capitalist system. They’re really just gonna go full “to a hammer everything is a nail” instead of trying to feed people. Awful system.
I remember vividly when I used self checkout in Asda for the first and the last time… It had similar camera setup, saw myself scanning, and freaked out a bit. Creepy af. I hope it’s not becoming the new normal, tho it looks worrying.
