Amazon Walks Out on Its Retail Tech 'Just Walk Out,' Disputes Automation Relied on 1K Workers in India

Amazon is abandoning AI-powered technology that allowed retail customers to simply grab a product and walk out of the store, while their payment transaction was conducted through automation. This decision comes after reports that the "Just Walk Out" system was reliant on over a thousand remote workers.

Just Walk Out technology detects when a shopper’s hand interacts with a product on the shelf. When that happens, machine learning algorithms make sure the correct item is added to the virtual cart—all without any specific knowledge about the person.

The system proved to be slow and expensive to implement and the e-commerce giant, despite its efforts, never achieved full automation and AI integration. Amazon reportedly filled the gap left by the system's limitations with over one thousand workers in India, relying on them to handle tasks such as processing data and issuing receipts. Often, the cheap, outsourced labor caused delays in processing, reportedly taking hours to send back data so customers could get their receipts.

Amazon spokesperson, Nathan Strauss, disputes the characterization, first reported by The Information, that the tech is reliant on humans, instead pointing to the role of workers in machine learning and validation functions.

The characterization that Just Walk Out technology relies on human reviewers is inaccurate. The primary role of our Machine Learning data associates is to annotate video images, which is necessary for continuously improving the underlying machine learning model powering Just Walk Out technology. Associates may also validate a small minority of shopping visits where our computer vision technology cannot determine with complete confidence an individual’s purchases.

Additionally, despite the advancements in tech, customer privacy concerns arose over Amazon's data collection practices with the Just Walk Out system. The company's extensive gathering of sensitive customer data, including in-store behavior, raised ethical questions and resulted in a class-action lawsuit filed in 2023.

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Son of Hamas Commander Delivers Must-See Takedown of Pro-Hamas Activist, Leaves Her Mouth Gaping

Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of an infamous Hamas commander, left a pro-Hamas activist's mouth gaping during a recent appearance on Dr. Phil. It's a must-see exchange and one of the cleanest takedowns on national television I've ever witnessed. That Yousef speaks with such personal experience and authority on the issue is what truly brings it all together.

At one point, he even accuses the American activist, who is wearing a keffiyeh, of cosplaying and having no idea what she's talking about. If anything, my headline understates just how gold this is.

YOUSEF: Now we have the problem of the pro-Palestine who are actually giving Hamas cover. They are participants in the crime. In fact, since October 7th, I personally don't differentiate between Hamas and so-called Palestinians because, actually, there is no Palestinians. There are tribes. There is the tribe of Hamas and there is the tribe of Islamic Jihad, and there is the tribe of Khalil, and there is the tribe of Nablus, and each one has different interests and all of them are conflicted. If they did not have Israel as the common enemy, they would kill each other. This is the reality of so-called Palestine.

ACTIVIST: Do you realize that's common colonial rhetoric?

YOUSEF: You don't know what Palestine is. In fact, the keffiyeh that you are wearing, this is just a statement to show that you really lack the authenticity to represent the case, and what's so-called "the cause," this is a human problem. The cause must die. I think enough is enough, and now it is proven, you are helping Hamas to prove it to the world that Palestine depends on the destruction of the State of Israel, and this is not acceptable, and we are not going to agree to it.

Yousef is correct when he says that "the vast majority of the Palestinian people support Hamas." Polling has consistently shown around 75 percent support for Hamas among the residents of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. In fact, the most recent survey on the matter showed an increase in support for the October 7th attacks among those in Gaza.

That's a reality the activist failed to dispute despite her best efforts. In summary, there can be no peace until the "cause" of eliminating Israel ceases and those in the West Bank and Gaza take responsibility for their own lives.

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