Kroger, the US’s largest supermarket chain, has been rolling out AI-powered “dynamic pricing” — hooked to cameras on its display shelves. Since 2018, the chain has been using digital price labels t…
  • NaibofTabr@infosec.pubEnglish
    91·
    3 months ago

    Kroger insists that “any test of electronic shelf tags is to lower prices more for customers where it matters most. To suggest otherwise is not true.” For some reason, nobody trusts them.

    Then I’m sure they’ll be completely transparent about the criteria used for making the price changes and how the algorithm works, right? Because they’re trustworthy, right?

    • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
      57·
      3 months ago

      You can absolutely depend on a publicly traded corporation that’s legally obligated to make decisions in the monetary interest of its shareholders—to behave in an altruistic fashion for the benefit of mankind.

    • vrek@programming.devEnglish
      11·
      3 months ago

      If it is true, they just admitted to security fraud for not maximizing profits. I doubt it is true but would be interesting to see it in court if they decide to admit to lying in a public press release or security fraud not acting in the interest of shareholders…

    • YourNetworkIsHaunted@awful.systemsEnglish
      9·
      3 months ago

      No it’s okay they’re using an AI model, so inevitably they can point to the huge jumble of math and say “computer did it” when asked to defend the gouging. That’s basically transparency, right?

    • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      14·
      3 months ago

      Disney is working on that with their streaming terms of service defence to poisoning a restaurant customer.

    • David Gerard@awful.systemsOPMEnglish
      37·
      3 months ago

      whoops! that was our error! It’s actually “Enhanced Display for Grocery Environment” which is at least an acronym. Fixed.

      • self@awful.systemsEnglish
        23·
        3 months ago

        as a consumer, I love to be delighted by a grocery environment that only makes prices lower (than a baseline price Kroger themselves set based on factors like: lying about the impact of shoplifting; intentionally creating food deserts; colluding with other supermarket chains to keep prices high; vibes)

        • self@awful.systemsEnglish
          23·
          3 months ago

          maybe if I’m an extra good consumer they’ll replace all the freezer doors with pointless screens you can’t see through that are all constantly broken but still manage to waste a fuckton of energy

          my consumer experience will really be improved when every one of those screens is recording my movements for the noble goal of knowing when to replace the animated ad for monster energy with an extremely inaccurate listing of the items contained in the freezer

          motherfuckers

          • froztbyte@awful.systemsEnglish
            12·
            3 months ago

            oh god these ghouls are going to roll out personalized ads on door-thin displays the moment they can afford to, aren’t they?

      • bitofhope@awful.systemsEnglish
        14·
        3 months ago

        Still 1/5 acronym.

        • Word unrelated to displays or groceries
        • Secondary meaning as a sexual term
        • Already used by Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution which is itself a mediocre acronym at best
        • Two of the four non-particle words, “enhanced” and “environment” are meaningless filler only there to make the acronym work.
  • Rentlar@lemmy.caEnglish
    31·
    3 months ago

    Those e-ink screens were already trouble during the pandemic inflation period when so many item tags didn’t match the price when rung up at the register.

    Individual pricing is only going to cause more problems with register and shelf price mismatch.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      3 months ago

      Oh no, now they’re going to be wirelessly connected. The problem I foresee is the price changing between when I see it and when I check out. Also, if that’s solved and I see a bunch of people grabbing an item I may just hang out for another 40 minutes and ask for a price check at the register. See if it’s come back down yet.

      Either that or shop with a jamming device. Oops, nothing works.

  • BallsandBayonets@lemmings.worldEnglish
    25·
    3 months ago

    Shopping there is already an exercise in gouge-tolerance. The cheapest options for any given product are always sold out or close to it, while the expensive name brands are stocked to the brim. Everything is getting smaller, pricier, and made with cheaper and cheaper filler. I don’t think they even use flour in Kroger brand bread anymore.

    • Phoenicianpirate@lemm.eeEnglish
      11·
      3 months ago

      What’s even more fucked up is we are overproducing food on a scale that is destroying the soil and a huge portion of food goes to waste well before it is even processed for sale (don’t feel upset for tossing away leftovers… all of our leftovers combined are a drop in the waste bucket).

      Yet despite this they insist on cutting more and more corners. In the 19th they did this and produced highly toxic results… and it was not only outlawed, but American food production made the prices so cheap that it was not needed anymore.

      Yet we have shit being done today that would still shock people back then.

  • o7___o7@awful.systemsEnglish
    12·
    3 months ago

    Between this and the Japanese grocery store with the Company Face, I’m wondering how much are we going to have to bribe pay Charles Stross to write the book where the good guys win

  • LH0ezVT@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    8·
    3 months ago

    I wonder if it is possible to confuse the cameras. Figure out what criteria make a price lower (skin color? time of day? no idea), then dress up like that / wear a mask with a face printed on it or something.