Support NeoGAF

[Exile20]

FAQ
What is Amazon Go?
Amazon Go is a new kind of store with no checkout required. We created the world’s most advanced shopping technology so you never have to wait in line. With our Just Walk Out Shopping experience, simply use the Amazon Go app to enter the store, take the products you want, and go! No lines, no checkout. (No, seriously.)

How does Amazon Go work?
Our checkout-free shopping experience is made possible by the same types of technologies used in self-driving cars: computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. Our Just Walk Out technology automatically detects when products are taken from or returned to the shelves and keeps track of them in a virtual cart. When you’re done shopping, you can just leave the store. Shortly after, we’ll charge your Amazon account and send you a receipt.

So I can just shop normally?
Yes! Just browse and shop like you would at any other store. Then you’re on your way. No lines, no checkout.

What can I buy at Amazon Go?
We offer delicious ready-to-eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options made fresh every day by our on-site chefs and favorite local kitchens and bakeries. Our selection of grocery essentials ranges from staples like bread and milk to artisan cheeses and locally made chocolates. You’ll find well-known brands we love, plus special finds we’re excited to introduce to customers. For a quick home-cooked dinner, pick up one of our chef-designed Amazon Meal Kits, with all the ingredients you need to make a meal for two in about 30 minutes.

How big is the store?
Our roughly 1,800 square feet of retail space is conveniently compact so busy customers can get in and out fast.

What do I need to get started?
All you need is an Amazon account, a supported smartphone, and the free Amazon Go app.

Why did you build Amazon Go?
Four years ago we asked ourselves: what if we could create a shopping experience with no lines and no checkout? Could we push the boundaries of computer vision and machine learning to create a store where customers could simply take what they want and go? Our answer to those questions is Amazon Go and Just Walk Out Shopping.

Where is Amazon Go located?
Our store is located at 2131 7th Ave, Seattle, WA, on the corner of 7th Avenue and Blanchard Street.

When can I visit Amazon Go?
Amazon Go is currently open to Amazon employees in our Beta program, and will open to the public in early 2017. Click below to get notified when we open.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrmMk1Myrxc

https://www.amazon.com/b/ref=as_li_...02-20&linkId=34fc373dd7bbe9c50e21b6b1f3537364

This is very interesting. Anyone seem hopeful about this? I guess we are finally advancing the supermarket.

 

[Totakeke]

Holy shit.

 

[DragonSworne]

Neat idea but this is the type of automation that is going to wreck the low to middle income families in the next decade.

Nothing is stopping this train.

 

[outunderthestars]

So another technology that removes even more jobs from the economy? No thanks.

 

[jabuseika]

Full automation of retail will be here very soon. Amazing.

So another technology that removes even more jobs from the economy? No thanks.

Even if it makes the prices cheaper?

If it doesn't, no chance any one can stop this anyway.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

I laughed out loud. This strikes me as a foolproof way to get into debt quickly. Also you will never see this in a low-income area for obvious reasons.

So another technology that removes even more jobs from the economy? No thanks.

Something I had not thought about. Automation is inevitable. I don't think we should villainize companies for Innovation and Technology. We should be thinking of ways to support those who are unable to adapt.

 

[Kaladin]

Dammit, you beat me to it.

Can we lock this thread?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1322380

 

[Shirow]

This is both amazing and terrifying. Great experience but will greatly damage people who will be losing their jobs over this. Rich or poor, there will be no middle class.

 

[Funyarinpa]

Love that the technology but damn I'm worried about the lost jobs

 

[outunderthestars]

Even if it makes the prices cheaper?

If it doesn't, no chance any one can stop this anyway.

We can easily stop this through legislation. We just need for our legislative leaders to actually show some courage and fight to protect jobs.


I wonder what it will take for people to turn on Amazon. They have been such a destructive force within our economy and treat their employees like human garbage.

 

[killertofu]

We in the future now.

 

[rambis]

This probably won't be coming anywhere near me lol.

 

[Quonny]

This step will only lead to people losing jobs at checkout counters. You'll still need customer service centers in some regard and you'll need cooks + stockers.

For every 1 person that's dedicated to checkout services you have 10 that are elsewhere. This specific step isn't that big a hit, but yeah, the future is concerning.

 

[Voidance]

Can't wait to try this if/when it comes to me.

 

[TunaMarshmallow]

Guaranteed basic income, y'all. If we do this right, we're headed for Star Trek!

(But we won't do it right. So we'll probably just kill each other...)

 

[soundscream]

Some retail stores have been looking into this technology(not the no checkout part) in order to improve the inventory/receiving process. Only thing I would be worried about is mistakes on their end. Lets say you walk out with what you assume are 5 $5 items but their is an error on their end saying each is $10. Its an easily correctable mistake but could cause an issue if someone isnt vigilant in checking their reciept.

 

[Angelus Errare]

So another technology that removes even more jobs from the economy? No thanks.

It's going to happen regardless. Better to be preemptive at finding a solution to help those displaced by this than ignore this train and be reactive when the middle and lower class are on life support. It sucks because America is reactivism incarnate so nothing will be done

 

[Vanillalite]

We can easily stop this through legislation. We just need for our legislative leaders to actually show some courage and fight to protect jobs.


I wonder what it will take for people to turn on Amazon. They have been such a destructive force within our economy and treat their employees like human garbage.

I don't want to stop this.

I want the world to get over this idea that everyone must work for a living to bring value to their lives.

I'd rather move head on into the society where people don't have to work to live vs crawling and snatching at every turn trying to hold onto the old ways of needing jobs.

 

[Lord Frieza]

So, wait, you use this at brick and mortar stores that have no real association with Amazon or...? I feel like I don't really understand how this works

 

[Exile20]

Some retail stores have been looking into this technology(not the no checkout part) in order to improve the inventory/receiving process. Only thing I would be worried about is mistakes on their end. Lets say you walk out with what you assume are 5 $5 items but their is an error on their end saying each is $10. Its an easily correctable mistake but could cause an issue if someone isnt vigilant in checking their reciept.

Can't the same thing happen in today's supermarket?

 

[A Serious Man]

So, wait, you use this at brick and mortar stores that have no real association with Amazon or...? I feel like I don't really understand how this works

These stores are operated by Amazon, they're creating their own stores.

 

[ISOM]

It's going to happen regardless. Better to be preemptive at finding a solution to help those displaced by this than ignore this train and be reactive when the middle and lower class are on life support. It sucks because America is reactivism incarnate so nothing will be done

Yup, nothing will happen until there are literally riots on the streets because of no jobs. People are that entrenched in their views.

 

[Funkyhamster]

Back when I was working in AI/robotics, I used to feel guilty about the effect that those fields might have on society... but it seems to me now that the problem is not with the technology, but with the surrounding economics and politics. Like, automating jobs creates an overall net value, and the question is whether the owners of the robots are the only ones to benefit from it, or whether that benefit gets shared with the former workers. Yes, this tech might result in hollowing out the middle/lower class in our current economic/political climate, but accepting that result as inevitable is an abdication of responsibility.

Also, do Amazon employees get +1s when shopping? I'm dating an Amazon employee... I have no desire to use a store like this everyday, but it would be fun to go check out the technology.

 

[LostMyNarbles]

Damn, this looks so amazing. I love watching technology evolve like this and Amazon is really at the forefront of it all which is so weird to me. Now obviously it kind of sucks since this will lead to job losses in the future, but that is pretty much inevitable given where we are going with automation. I do not see this kind of integration taking shape in most stores until we move away from cash which is unlikely, but most stores will probably move solely to self-checkout with one employee standing by for assistance and maybe 4-5 employees (If that) maintaining the shelves.

So, wait, you use this at brick and mortar stores that have no real association with Amazon or...? I feel like I don't really understand how this works

It's a B&M grocery store ran by Amazon, so the whole experience is handled by them.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Love that the technology but damn I'm worried about the lost jobs

A ton of people need to be hired to work these stores still

 

[Khoryos]

We can easily stop this through legislation. We just need for our legislative leaders to actually show some courage and fight to protect jobs.

Damn straight! When's the government going to step in for us buggy-whip makers, eh?

 

[outunderthestars]

A ton of people need to be hired to work these stores still

Not when they automate the stocking of shelves as well...

 

[Future]

Literally thought at first that this was a fake promo about the future or something

 

[soundscream]

This step will only lead to people losing jobs at checkout counters. You'll still need customer service centers in some regard and you'll need cooks + stockers.

For every 1 person that's dedicated to checkout services you have 10 that are elsewhere. This specific step isn't that big a hit, but yeah, the future is concerning.

Thats not true, in most high traffic stores the cashiers are usually the highest amount of staff. And when it isn't its nowhere near a 1:10 ratio.

 

[Jpop]

So another technology that removes even more jobs from the economy? No thanks.

Sorry you don't save jobs by fighting technological progress.

 

[The Technomancer]

Heeeeere we go

 

[E-phonk]

For those not aware of it, most of the retail and manufacturing jobs will go away in the next 10-20 years. With AI, automatisation and robotics all on the verge of a breakthrough. A lot of retail already suffers from online shopping anyways.

That's why finding a way to make a workable universal basic income is one of the biggest social challenges for the next decade. But in order to do that we have to rethink a lot of the current economic and tax dogma's.

 

[PetriP-TNT]

I don't want to stop this.

I want the world to get over this idea that everyone must work for a living to bring value to their lives.

I'd rather move head on into the society where people don't have to work to live vs crawling and snatching at every turn trying to hold onto the old ways of needing jobs.

Amen to that. Guaranteed basic income can't come soon enough.

 

[OnionPowder]

We can easily stop this through legislation. We just need for our legislative leaders to actually show some courage and fight to protect jobs.


I wonder what it will take for people to turn on Amazon. They have been such a destructive force within our economy and treat their employees like human garbage.

Sorry, I'm not going to stop progress so people have an excuse to do something 8 hours a day.

 

[SolarPowered]

We can easily stop this through legislation. We just need for our legislative leaders to actually show some courage and fight to protect jobs.


I wonder what it will take for people to turn on Amazon. They have been such a destructive force within our economy and treat their employees like human garbage.

No thanks to protecting inefficiency. The first economies that adapt to an automation dominated future will surely have a leg up over everyone else in social and economic aspects that we can't begin to imagine yet. This will be the end game beyond foreign workers, low wage workers and outsourcing. If the US can't handle it some other country will reap the benefits in ways that will surely negatively impact our economic standing and influence abroad. This will be no different than letting China lead the way in green technology and we'll regret fighting this development in the long run.

 

[Link]

So what's stopping someone without the app from just taking items and walking out without paying?

 

[Fuzzy]

I look forward to pranksters slipping items into bags without people's knowledge just to fuck with people.

 

[soundscream]

Can't the same thing happen in today's supermarket?

If you are rung up $10 for a bottle of coke at the register I would assume you would notice. In this case your just walking out with a reciept emailed to you.

 

[Breads]

Basic income when.

 

[FZZ]

We'll see but looks promising

 

[Josh7289]

I support this and I also support socialism. The latter is necessary for the former to not result in widespread suffering.

 

[Dingens]

[...]
I wonder what it will take for people to turn on Amazon. They have been such a destructive force within our economy and treat their employees like human garbage.

in many countries in Europe all it took was a report uncovering the awful working conditions at their warehouses.... but in the US, people don't give a shit about others... so probably nothing is going to stop the train. Which is especially hard, since the US will also be the last place to push people into bullshit jobs instead of adopting some sort of basic income for everyone.

 

[outunderthestars]

Sorry you don't save jobs by fighting technological progress.

Not true. The US government protects us jobs via tariffs, and labor laws across many sectors of the economy. Fighting job reduction is skmething they should continue to do.

 

[NastyBook]

A ton of people need to be hired to work these stores still

Yeah, no cashiers or "how may I help you" type individuals, but they're gonna need plenty of stocking personnel.

 

[Charcoal]

Does anyone have the link for the video I'm thinking of? It's about a small gas station type place that doesn't employ any workers. You press what you want on a touch screen and the system brings it to you. The shelves restock themselves as well.

That's the future we're moving towards, and Amazon just took a giant first step.

 

[mackattk]

Really wonder what type of security this place will have. Is there a way to prevent people from coming in without a supported smartphone? Once they are inside, they could basically just walk out with anything, right? Also wondering how accurate it would be if a lot of people walked in/out at the same time. I am assuming they are using some sort of RFID system.

I am sure they have everything figured out.

 

[valkillmore]

So another technology that removes even more jobs from the economy? No thanks.

Can't stop it unfortunately. Will progress, develop & spread despite you or I having concerns about it.

 

[Quonny]

Thats not true, in most high traffic stores the cashiers are usually the highest amount of staff. And when it isn't its nowhere near a 1:10 ratio.

Not in grocery stores, which is what this is.

 

[soundscream]

Also lets not forget how shitty Amazon treats its workforce.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

Some retail stores have been looking into this technology(not the no checkout part) in order to improve the inventory/receiving process. Only thing I would be worried about is mistakes on their end. Lets say you walk out with what you assume are 5 $5 items but their is an error on their end saying each is $10. Its an easily correctable mistake but could cause an issue if someone isnt vigilant in checking their reciept.

I am literally the****-up police in the receiving department at a warehouse for a billion-dollar Midwestern One Stop Shop, and I scoff at the notion that automation can improve the errors made in the receiving process.

The vendors can't even ship product to us correctly. Supposed to send us double stuffed Oreos but instead they send low fat. This is just one example out of literally hundreds in a day just in my department.

Too many hands in the process. There's the vendor who sings the product, the unloader, the person who tags the product to confirm it is the correct stuff, the person who scans the product to Cross Dock it to the shipping side of the warehouse, and then there's the person who loads it into the trailer.

We have a warehouse in Wisconsin that streamlines this process with automation, but from what I have heard it is not all that it's cracked up to be. Folks are still running up hella overtime because volume. And if there is a malfunction, you can bring over more people to get the work done but sound machine is lost production that you will never get back.

Of course you can consider this cynicism has concern for job security. After all, if people stop making mistakes, then the necessity of my job comes into question