Why do self-checkouts need computer vision?

Question on screen: Why do self-checkouts need computer vision?

Tim Hartley:

I was, talking to a retailer the other day who, was expressing their concern about the the additional cost of AI at self checkout and why they needed that.

Surely a self checkout is a sophisticated piece, you know, piece of equipment. And that’s true.

However, the losses that are attributed to the use of self checkout technology are around about a third of the losses in retail overall. Being able to detect when fraud is happening is a really important part of what AI can actually deliver to these things.

And that’s one half of it. The other half of it is all about the efficiency of the self checkout itself.

And that’s the promise that we give to the shopper by having a self checkout system in place. And things like, having to look up what a particular item of fresh produces in a complex menu really slows down that and it it it it spoils the efficiency.

So having a having AI that can recognize, for example, a particular type of apple or pear or whatever it is and count those items adds to the efficiency of self checkout as well.

So it’s a balance between detecting that fraud, which is a horrible problem for retailers, and improving the shopper experience together. That’s what AI can deliver.