Self-Checkout AI Goes Viral in News May 19th - May 31st Nationwide
HuffPo: Self-Checkout Headaches May Be Putting Walmart Workers Too Close To Shoppers

“Concerned Home Office Associates” Group Contacts Wired

Emails show the retailer’s employees are worried that an AI-based system meant to prevent theft is undermining social distancing. “It’s a health issue,” said one.

Showing up in a Huffington Post article May 19th from the social distancing angle and then followed by a more pointed article in Wired on May 29th, about the false positives generated. And between May 29th and May 31st it went viral around the news world.

The Huffington Post article:

The artificial-intelligence-based system, developed by an Ireland-based company called Everseen, uses cameras to read the movements of customers, and determine if an item was bagged but not scanned at the self-checkout kiosk. It then alerts a self-checkout host to intervene and help the customer scan whatever was missed.

But that same system has now become a serious concern for some Walmart employees during the coronavirus pandemic. Emails reviewed by HuffPost show corporate employees discussing the system’s errors ― flagging legitimate scans as non-scans, and prompting workers to step in when they shouldn’t have to. They even wonder if the system should be shut down in the interests of social distancing, which would take away a backstop against theft.

A Walmart spokesperson said employees have been addressing safety issues throughout the pandemic, and the company does not believe the Everseen program to be a problem based on the data it has evaluated. The self-checkout kiosks, the spokesperson noted, are cleaned regularly and employees are provided with protective equipment like masks and gloves.

It continues by talking about how self-checkout allows them to rely on fewer full-time cashiers, but by outsourcing the scanning work to customers they become more vulnerable to “shrink” ― the loss of inventory, be it due to theft or honest mistakes. Preventing shrink is a top concern of Walmart’s “asset protection” division, which helps oversee the use of Everseen.

wired: Walmart Employees Are Out to Show Its Anti-Theft AI Doesn't Work
The retailer denies there is any widespread issue with the software, but a group expressed frustration—and public health concerns.

The Wired article takes the subject quite further and claims they were contacted directly by the group “Concerned Home Office Associates” and provided with a "slickly produced video."

They told Wired they were dismayed that their employer was relying on AI they believed was flawed. One worker said that the technology was sometimes even referred to internally as “NeverSeen” because of its frequent mistakes. WIRED granted the employees anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.

The coronavirus pandemic has given their concerns more urgency. One Concerned Home Office Associate said they worry false positives could be causing Walmart workers to break social distancing guidelines unnecessarily.

A spokesperson for Walmart denied that false positives caused by Everseen were a widespread issue, and said the company had not considered turning the system off due to concerns about Covid-19.

“We assess our technology regularly, and as evident with the large scale implementation of Everseen across the chain, we have confidence it is currently meeting our standards,” the spokesperson said in an email. Just prior to the start of the pandemic, Walmart said it made significant improvements to its Everseen system, which resulted in fewer alerts overall.

Everseen in a statement said, the company “accurately and effectively identifies potential theft [sic] is why retailers have successfully deployed it at thousands of locations to date, with many more installations planned.” They added that Everseen typically accounts only for less than 10 percent of total interventions at self-service checkouts. In a separate statement, the spokesperson said “Everseen is committed to helping its customers deliver the best possible experience for shoppers and store associates, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-checkout offers the benefits of a generally contactless shopping experience, allowing for proper social distancing and avoiding manned-lanes in busy stores with limited staff available.”  huffingtonpost.com wired.com foxbusiness.com


Huffington Post – Published 5-19-20
Self-Checkout Headaches May Be Putting Walmart Workers Too Close To Shoppers

Wired – Published 5-29-20
Walmart Employees Are Out to Show Its Anti-Theft AI Doesn't Work

Fox Business – references Wired’s article – Published 5-31-20
Walmart says employee complaints about AI technology are a non-issue

This website reposts Wired’s article, but has a comment thread with 170+ comments.