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Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

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Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#141

Post by Denvercoder9 »

techsupporter wrote: post #79
ghaff wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grocery stores and others absolutely still need cashier checkout. If I have a handful of items I can barcode swipe and even a couple pieces of produce that's fine. But they simply aren't designed for a full shopping cart which includes a ton of non-barcoded items. Ditto with home repair stores. Scan a new smoke detector? Sure. Check out a bunch of lumber etc. That would be no. In my experience, most stores are findin…

> In my experience, most stores are finding a reasonable balance. I hope you're right but this hasn't been the case at the grocery stores around me. QFC (a Kroger-owned brand in the Pacific Northwest) has, at least at two I usually frequent, stopped staffing checklanes after 8 or 9pm. It's self-checkout only. These are at stores that have a lot of signage advertising that "summer hours are here, all locations open un…

Self-service checkout at the store exit is such a wasted opportunity. In my (non-USA) grocery store I can scan product with my phone while I'm walking through the store and putting them in the cart; afterwards I only have to pay. Not having to take everything from my cart, scan it and put it back saves quite some time, even compared to cashiers scanning. There's also a handheld scanner for people that can't or don't want to use their smartphone.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#142

Post by wussboy »

bdangubic wrote: post #119
gnufied wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same goes for almost all grocery shops here - Publix, Kroger, target etc replacing checkout with self-checkout kiosks completely. I absolute hate using self-checkout for non-packaged groceries items. Especially if I have lots of stuff. Freaking "unintended item in baggage area". Not to mention, I feel like Publix etc in particular employed lots of folks with disability. It warmed my heart to talk to them. I don't kno…

[flagged]

What the fuck?

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#143

Post by gwbrooks »

bdangubic wrote: post #119
gnufied wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same goes for almost all grocery shops here - Publix, Kroger, target etc replacing checkout with self-checkout kiosks completely. I absolute hate using self-checkout for non-packaged groceries items. Especially if I have lots of stuff. Freaking "unintended item in baggage area". Not to mention, I feel like Publix etc in particular employed lots of folks with disability. It warmed my heart to talk to them. I don't kno…

[flagged]

So the plan is screwing over the company you're buying goods from?

Where can I like and subscribe for more of these amazing life hacks? (/s)

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#144

Post by [deleted] »

jarjoura wrote: post #134

If the promise of AI means I can do 1/2 the amount of work and maintain my high quality life, then I'm all for it. However, every advancement that has come in the last 100 years that improved efficiency has only meant we're pushed to work more and do more. So I am now expected to do 2x the work. If you're really dreaming for AI that can wipe-out entire classes of decent middle-class jobs in one big swing, don't forge…

[deleted]

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#145

Post by barrkel »

codetrotter wrote: post #85
Dylan16807 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But they simply aren't designed for a full shopping cart which includes a ton of non-barcoded items. Huh. Everything at my grocery store either has a barcode or is produce that needs to be weighed, so there's no speed advantage for a cashier. And they've gone through different sizes of self-checkout, some of which actually had more room than the cashier checkouts.

> produce that needs to be weighed In Spain and France (and probably other countries too) they’ve been doing something that’s pretty neat in regards to the fruits and vegetables since long before self-checkout even became a thing, but which helps a lot now with self-checkout as well. When you go to the fruits and vegetables section of the store, a lot of these stores have a scale there with a printer. So when you pic…

In the UK, the self checkout machine has a weighing scale built in, and you select the type of produce while it's on the scales during checkout, much like a cashier might. I prefer it to the code system you find on the continent.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#146

Post by macNchz »

codetrotter wrote: post #85
Dylan16807 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But they simply aren't designed for a full shopping cart which includes a ton of non-barcoded items. Huh. Everything at my grocery store either has a barcode or is produce that needs to be weighed, so there's no speed advantage for a cashier. And they've gone through different sizes of self-checkout, some of which actually had more room than the cashier checkouts.

> produce that needs to be weighed In Spain and France (and probably other countries too) they’ve been doing something that’s pretty neat in regards to the fruits and vegetables since long before self-checkout even became a thing, but which helps a lot now with self-checkout as well. When you go to the fruits and vegetables section of the store, a lot of these stores have a scale there with a printer. So when you pic…

The NYC area grocery chain Fairway–of which most locations have sadly closed after a bankruptcy in 2020–took this concept a step further with a mobile checkout app, you could weigh your produce and enter it into the app as you shopped (as well as scan package barcodes), then pay directly in the app and walk out. A clerk would sometimes audit your bags, but it was so much better than the typical American supermarket self-checkout.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fairway-market-mobile-checkout...

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#148

Post by TheCleric »

smt88 wrote: post #84
gnufied wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same goes for almost all grocery shops here - Publix, Kroger, target etc replacing checkout with self-checkout kiosks completely. I absolute hate using self-checkout for non-packaged groceries items. Especially if I have lots of stuff. Freaking "unintended item in baggage area". Not to mention, I feel like Publix etc in particular employed lots of folks with disability. It warmed my heart to talk to them. I don't kno…

So far, I've never seen a Publix with even a single self-checkout. I'm not saying they don't exist, but they're rolling them out much more slowly than the other stores. This is likely because Publix is 80% employee-owned[1]. 1. https://fourweekmba.com/who-owns-publix/#:~:text=Key%20takea... .

I've seen one, in Wesley Chapel, FL. The vast majority do not.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#149

Post by yreg »

jarjoura wrote: post #134

If the promise of AI means I can do 1/2 the amount of work and maintain my high quality life, then I'm all for it. However, every advancement that has come in the last 100 years that improved efficiency has only meant we're pushed to work more and do more. So I am now expected to do 2x the work. If you're really dreaming for AI that can wipe-out entire classes of decent middle-class jobs in one big swing, don't forge…

The mean quality of life is sky high compared to 100 years ago and it is such thanks to the advancement made.

Re: Shopify employee breaks NDA to reveal firm replacing laid off workers with AI

#150

Post by wussboy »

nvr219 wrote: post #61
BigBalli wrote: post #56

I don't understand why everyone (excluding people who were replaced) is so "outraged".

As a customer: because the quality of service I get from a robot is much worse than the quality of service I get from a human being, in general.

Agreed. I called because I need a human to fix my problem. If it could have been fixed on the website I would have fixed it there.
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