Buying something in the shops used to be as simple as choosing the item and handing over the money.
But in recent years, the great British shopping experience has dramatically changed.
In 2025, artificial intelligence (AI) is patrolling Britain’s retail stores to keep an eye on customers as they stock up on essentials.
Now, people are subjected to a slew of AI-powered tech, including intelligent surveillance cameras, robots, facial recognition systems and online age checks.
Home Bargains is the latest to follow the trend, with a new AI-enabled security system that watches you while you scan your own items.
Meanwhile, Asda’s new live facial recognition system scans CCTV images and compares results to a known list of individuals who have previously committed criminal activity in one of its stores.
It joins the likes of ‘buzz for booze’ buttons in Morrisons, AI age-checks to buy knives from John Lewis and even high tech robots in Tesco.
So, is AI being used in your favourite shop? Here, MailOnlinereveals the Orwellian technologies being used to tackle crime – despite criticism from experts.
From ‘buzz for booze’ buttons in Morrisons to age-checks to buy knives at John Lewis, here’s the Orwellian technologies being used to tackle crime
Live facial recognition technology has been integrated into Asda’s existing CCTV network and works by scanning images and comparing the results to a known list of individuals who have previously committed criminal activity in one of its stores (stock image)
Madeleine Stone, senior advocacy officer at Big Brother Watch, said retailers ‘should be extremely cautious when experimenting with novel forms of AI-powered surveillance in stores’.
‘We are at risk of companies creating high streets staffed not by workers, but by intrusive new technologies and with human oversight being substituted for pervasive surveillance which tracks our bodies and behaviours,’ she told MailOnline.
‘While some security measures are reasonable, technologies such as live facial recognition are too intrusive to ever be used safely and must be banned.’
Anti-theft scans
It’s known for selling ‘top brands at bottom prices’, but Home Bargains has been victim to thieving ‘swipers’ – people who bag groceries at self-service checkouts without scanning them.
As a result, the retailer has deployed AI-enabled security cameras that keep a very close eye on people when they’re at the machines.
The discount store chain, founded in Liverpool in 1976, has teamed up with tech companies SAI (Storewide Active Intelligence) and Everseen for the crackdown.
SAI says on its website: ‘SAI’s industry hardened technology and patented computer vision platform gives retailers the tools to enhance customer service while increasing sales and minimising losses.’
At self-service checkouts, AI cameras keep a close eye on consumers as they scan their items
It’s known for selling ‘top brands at bottom prices’, but Home Bargains has been victim to thieving ‘swpiers’ – people who bag groceries at self-service checkouts without scanning them (file photo)
The site acknowledges that ‘rising living costs are causing desperation’ which is forcing people to swipe goods – often by pretending to scan them.
But it urges clients to ‘identify and prevent costly checkout losses’ with its system, which also automatically detects incidents of aggression and violence in stores.
Recent studies have suggested 33 per cent of customers regularly steal through the do-it-yourself checkout area, with fruit and vegetables and breads highest on the list.
Dalek-like security bots
To the surprise of Tesco customers, the retailer has started stationing Dalek-like at its entrances which keep an eye out for intruders at night during closing hours.
The ‘ominous’ machines, which detect thieves thanks to 360-degree cameras, shout at intruders in an ‘angry Northern Irish accent’ and send alerts to authorities.
Last year, one of the robots was snapped in a Tesco store in an unknown location – prompting the retailer to admit it has been using them.
Covered in the same yellow and blue chequered markings used by UK Police, the bot is a PID360 security robot made by Shropshire-based firm Deter Tech.
Deter Tech says: ‘With its striking design, audio alerts, and LED illuminators, the PID360 serves as a powerful deterrent against intruders on your site’
Until now the PID360 has mostly been used on construction sites to detect criminals stealing equipment or trespassers who could hurt themselves.
But ‘desperate’ Tesco bosses drafted the bots across UK stores to keep an eye out during the night during closing hours – especially smaller Tesco Express stores that are usually empty of security staff overnight.
According to Deter Tech, the PID360 deters more than ’80 per cent of intrusions’ and can be deployed in remote locations without needing power.
‘Buzz for booze’ buttons
‘Buzz for booze’ may sound like a gameshow presented by Dale Winton, but it’s yet another high-tech anti-theft supermarket crackdown.
Morrisons has installed buttons that customers have to press if they want to buy certain pricey alcoholic beverages, like sprits and sparkling wines.
When pressed, the buzzer automatically summons a staff member who then unlocks the glass cabinet holding the booze.
Among the Morrisons branches with the buzzers are Birmingham, Chippenham in Wiltshire and Fleet in Hampshire, according to reports.
Pictured, a ‘buzz for booze’ button at a Morrisons at Five Ways in Birmingham was reported on last April
But the system has gone down badly with many shoppers, with some calling it ‘crazy’ and ‘an absolute joke’.
One social media user based in Leeds posted a video showing row upon row of glass cabinets protected by the buttons.
He said: ‘I have actually got to say, this will put me completely off buying any spirits from Morrisons. What an absolute joke. Buzz for booze? Let’s go elsewhere.’
A Morrisons spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘We can confirm that we are using these cabinets in a number of our stores, as are others across the industry.
‘We have received good feedback from customers and have a colleague in the area and the buzzer also goes to the store headsets so customers can expect a really prompt service.’
Amazon’s ‘Just walk out’
At Amazon’s ‘Fresh’ grocery stores, of which there are about 20 in England, the tech giant keeps an eye on all customers that pass through its doors.
Amazon Fresh stores have cameras and depth-sensors developed with deep-learning AI techniques to monitor what customers pick up and put back on the shelves.
Amazon Fresh stores have cameras and depth-sensors developed with deep-learning AI techniques to monitor what customers pick up and put back on the shelves
When customers are done, they scan the app or pay by card at kiosks and then ‘just walk out’ – and the tech knows how much to charge them and emails the receipt
It means the tech knows exactly what each person has taken from the store and how much to charge their payment details, which are stored on the app.
When customers are done, they scan the app or pay by card at kiosks and then ‘just walk out’ – and the tech knows how much to charge them and emails the receipt.
However, the technology has proved controversial as sometimes the AI has trouble telling when an item was put back on the shelves.
It means the customer is often overcharged, although the process of getting a refund for the erroneous item is fairly straightforward.
Alternatively, Amazon Fresh has recently given customers the option to pay in the more conventional way – by scanning their items at the tills.
AI age checks
In a bid to tackle knife crime, John Lewis is using AI to check if online shoppers are old enough to buy knives.
Using a technology called facial age estimation, the online store can check whether someone is over 18 without needing to see their ID.
Upon checkout, users will be prompted to verify their age. This will take the shopper to a website where they can provide a photo of their face to prove they are over 18
The technology is provided by Yoti, a company which already makes age recognition systems for social media and pornography sites. Yoti uses an AI trained on millions of photos to determine how hold a user is from their face alone
When someone wants to buy a knife, the shopper must give permission for the website to take a photo of their face which is then scanned by AI.
The tech from digital identity company Yoti, approved by the regulator Ofcom for use under the Online Safety Act , has now allowed knives to return to John Lewis’ online store.
Once approved, John Lewis says that home deliveries will be made by Royal Mail who will ask for a photographic ID on the door before handing over the package.
Other controversial measures
Earlier this month, Asda launched a trial of live facial recognition technology in its stores to combat soaring shoplifting and assaults on staff.
In a move branded ‘disproportionate’ and ‘chilling’ by anti-surveillance groups, the retailer is introducing the scheme in five shops across the Manchester area.
The technology has been integrated into Asda’s existing CCTV network and works by scanning images and comparing the results to a known list of individuals who have previously committed criminal activity in one of its stores.
If a match is found by the automated system, in a matter of seconds head office security will conduct a check and report it to the store in question immediately.
Meanwhile, Co-op, which has installed ‘fortified’ kiosks featuring toughened screen and keycode-controlled entry in hundreds of stores.
It is also trialling AI that uses CCTV to track suspicious behaviour.
And Tesco has also introduced weighing scales at its Gateshead to check whether customers using ‘Scan as you shop’ aren’t taking home extra goods.
HOW DOES FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY WORK?
Facial recognition software works by matching real time images to a previous photograph of a person.
Each face has approximately 80 unique nodal points across the eyes, nose, cheeks and mouth which distinguish one person from another.
A digital video camera measures the distance between various points on the human face, such as the width of the nose, depth of the eye sockets, distance between the eyes and shape of the jawline.
A different smart surveillance system (pictured) can scan 2 billion faces within seconds has been revealed in China. The system connects to millions of CCTV cameras and uses artificial intelligence to pick out targets. The military is working on applying a similar version of this with AI to track people across the country
This produces a unique numerical code that can then be linked with a matching code gleaned from a previous photograph.
A facial recognition system used by officials in China connects to millions of CCTV cameras and uses artificial intelligence to pick out targets.
Experts believe that facial recognition technology will soon overtake fingerprint technology as the most effective way to identify people.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .