Here's how AI could help catch shoplifters in the act
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Shoplifting continues to be a huge problem around the world, costing retailers billions of dollars a year in the United States alone. But a Japanese startup has developed artificial intelligence software that it says can catch shoplifters in the act — and alert staff members so they can swoop in to prevent pilferage.
The system isn’t yet available in the U.S., but the Tokyo-based company behind it, Vaak, says tests in local convenience stores showed the system slashed shoplifting losses by 77 percent.
Dubbed Vaakeye, the system works with a store’s surveillance cameras to catch thievery that busy staffers might miss. Its developers trained the system by showing it more than 100 hours of closed-circuit television footage that depicted honest shoppers as well as shoplifters.
Vaak CEO Ryo Tanaka said the system identifies suspicious activity on the basis of more than 100 aspects of shoppers’ behavior, including gait, hand movements, facial expressions and even clothing choices. Promotional videos show Vaakeye spotting a range of suspicious activities , from “restless” behavior and “sneaking” to putting items into bags or pockets.
If the system spots behavior it deems suspicious, it alerts store personnel via an app. Then it’s up to staffers to take action — typically by approaching the potential shoplifters and asking if they need help. The system doesn’t actually label people as shoplifters; rather, Tanaka said, it tells staffers to “please check these people — they might steal things.”
This isn’t the first time artificial intelligence has been used to combat retail shrinkage. Retailers have used AI to detect refund fraud and employee theft. And Japanese communications giant NTT East made headlines last summer with AI Guardsman, a camera that uses technology similar to Vaakeye’s to analyze shoppers’ body language for signs of possible theft. AI Guardsman’s developers said the camera cut shoplifting losses by 40 percent.
Chelsea Binns, an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, said the Vaakeye system “appears to show great promise for loss prevention.” But, she added, retailers must weigh the costs and benefits of surveillance. “If regular customers are afraid to enter stores because they don’t like the idea of being tracked, this could potentially hurt retail sales,” she said.
Sven Dietrich, another John Jay professor, said deep learning algorithms tend to be only as good as the data used to train them. He offered a hypothetical scenario in which shoplifters in a training video wear blue jackets — something that might lead to the conclusion that anyone in a blue jacket is suspicious.
“You have to be sure you have enough information,” he said. “Otherwise, the algorithm might be extracting a certain bias."
And such systems might be biased against more than a shopper’s clothing.
Jerome Williams, a professor and senior administrator at Rutgers University’s Newark campus, has written extensively on race and retail environments. He said that unless training data is carefully controlled, a theft-detection algorithm might wind up unfairly targeting people of color, who are routinely stopped on suspicion of shoplifting more often than white shoppers.
“The people who get caught for shoplifting is not an indication of who’s shoplifting,” Williams said. “It’s a function of who’s being watched and who’s being caught, and that’s based on discriminatory practices.”
Williams said black shoppers who felt they had been unfairly scrutinized in stores previously might be more likely to appear nervous in subsequent shopping experiences — a potentially risky proposition if a system misidentifies anxiety as suspicious behavior. Still, he praised Vaakeye’s focus on body language. “I think it’s a good approach,” he said. “You shouldn’t racially profile. You should behaviorally profile.”
Nell Watson, a Belgium-based engineer who speaks widely about machine learning, agreed that behavior is an essential part of the equation. “It may be argued that you could engineer a system which is perhaps even less biased than a given human being, because human beings have their own impressions about people,” she said. But, she added, “it really depends on how well audited the algorithms are by independent experts in this kind of area.”
Audited or not, Vaakeye is already out in the world. Tanaka said the system had been installed in about 50 stores in the Tokyo area and would be soon be available more widely in Japan.
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I think that this tech is really cool, but AI, in general, worries me. Not only does it "think", it apparently can spy on us, even without people watching.
It is really cool and some of it worries me as well. This specific use of AI may take a while to be implemented in the US:
"But a Japanese startup has developed artificial intelligence software that it says can catch shoplifters in the act — and alert staff members so they can swoop in to prevent pilferage."
Can you imagine what the ACLU will do with store "staff members" swooping in on a shoplifter ?
Vic maybe I'm missing something but why would the ACLU become involved in a criminal being caught?
Because the ACLU might just feel that those doing the catching are not legally qualified to do so. You don't think questions could arise? Exactly what is a store employee legally allowed to do? Make an apprehension? Hold someone until the police arrive?
Some stores have security guards who are legally allowed to make an apprehension and hold someone until the police arrive.
For other store employees, I think it differs by state - for example, Arizona has a shopkeeper law which a "shopkeeper" can legally detain someone while waiting for the police. But if I owned a store, I'd be very leery of letting anyone who isn't a trained security guard detain someone, for fear of lawsuits.
In MA there are specific rules for store detectives, security guards and Constables. There is almost an art to staying within the guidelines. They almost have to wait for the suspect to leave the store without paying, carefully "apprehend" the suspect before leaving the store property, somehow detain the suspect until the police arrive. It must be a tall order if the thugs know the rules.
For other store employees, I think it differs by state - for example, Arizona has a shopkeeper law which a "shopkeeper" can legally detain someone while waiting for the police.
I imagine Arizona would be a state with very unique laws. Don't they give out drivers licences for life?
But if I owned a store, I'd be very leery of letting anyone who isn't a trained security guard detain someone, for fear of lawsuits.
That's my point.
I was assuming the process would be the same as it currently is without any changes except that AI was used to spot the individual. Lol why change what works, right.
There is no question that the process of spotting the individual would be vastly improved AND would reduce the cost of surveillance. No debate there.
I think that some teenagers think of shoplifting as a kind of game, or challenge. My father had an employee who was a kleptomaniac, and he went to court to give character evidence a few times.
How lovely to know that in the future, I'll be thrown into a state of extreme paranoia whenever a sales person asks me if I need assistance.
LOL - Of course that's going to be the result. I think the only solution is going to be to send a robot in to do the shopping.
Walmart already has online shopping. Pick out what you want, pay for it and just pick it up. They even load it in your car. Staring to sound like a better way to go.
So where is the Sears catalog when we really need it?
Actually, much of the time when someone's asking you if you need assistance, they're also ensuring that you know they're keeping an eye on you. Partly to see if you look like you need help, and partly to see if you look like you're shoplifting.
Nothing like a big blast of retro-angst this early in the morning!
Heh. I remember as a teenager, the store clerks definitely kept an eye on us, and many stores now don't allow students to bring backpacks into stores.
Well, blow me down! I get asked this all the time and of course I tell them I do have a question and starting loading 'em up! HA!
Then, I tell 'em I can wait while they go fetch me answers! I do, really, wait for answers.
On a serious note, those workers with the 'talkies" are the worse. They look like aspiring secret service agents communicating on their little hips and sleeve combo's. Then, here comes, "May Ella" or "Leroy," with a, "Hi, can I help you find something?" That one is a dead give away to me.
Because it strikes me that I must look like I must appear to A WATCHER to not be sufficiently able to locate something. I give that one this: "Nope, I'm doing fine."
But, you've given me something to ponder. Yes, indeedie.
I am remembering that one day I went into Walmart this year (2019) and I literally looked around at every non-food, non-toy shelf in there, before asking someone where the replacement vacuum cleaner 'bands' were! I mean, I surprised myself at how many shelves I took in. Just bending and folding away! (Smile.) And, making notes on my cellphone Audible book!
Well, just call me "Jingle jangle" then. Because I do at least two, well maybe three, caliber "maneuvers" in stores that keeps getting me asked if "I need help":
But, for the love of peace, I would not take something that does not belong to me if it accidentally came out to the parking lot in my cart unpaid! Which happened last weekend!
I brought it back in and the clerk thanked me. (She should have been embarrassed, that she was too lazy to look and keep me, the customer, save from "AI"!) I could have been jailed or humiliated by "AI!"
So, don't shoplift, no problem.
Hard to prosecute an innocent person and you may be able to sue their pants off.
It's not about being innocent, it's about being judged by artificial 'intelligence' based on the actions and personal style of others.
Suspected not judged.
People have been doing the same thing for years, basically "profiling" shoppers.
Hell, I'm in big trouble...I always look suspicious
I know. It's why I hang around you. It throws the suspicion off of me.
bwah ha ha, that's why I hang with both of you's here.
me too, I guess. I always used to get the full treatment at airport security checkpoints until I got some federal ID several years ago.
They keep developing "Things" that take away the "Human factor" !
I don't like it.....AT ALL !
when AI learns trends and statistics and applies them, it will be accused of profiling
Programs don't have bias. People do. So I don't see that as an issue.
What concerns me is that we keep developing all this AI, with little thought of the possible negative outcomes. As AI gets more advanced, it might not need us.
This is something we have been warned about for a very long time, and no one seems to take it seriously.
But charger's point is valid. If teenagers shoplift more, they will be targeted more by AI. Same with any gender, race, etc. When people do that, we call it profiling, whether or not it is based on actual trends and statistics. Will that change if it's AI doing the profiling?
They made 4 or 5 movies out of it
AI does it without emotion and based on an algorithm. That being said because it will operate from the "norm", it could actually miss people since it's not looking for it. But I guess we would have to know how it finds the shoplifters.
You are asking the, "What about the people?" question. And, it is a big concern/dilemma/problem in the making.
But, technology is the story that eats its own book in the end, Yes?
Humanity has no choice, but to climb that mountain and cross over into the other side! We must know what we do not yet know and are capable of finding out!
Sure did and all were cautionary tales.
Just off the top of my head.
LOL....I was talking about The Terminator movies
I can see that, because in the gif above. You can see the AI is attempting to 'data-ID' the persons. Such as: Name. ID#. Location. How many times warned #. Notes.
May auto-place call off-site to Law Enforcement.
As if humans aren’t smart enough to stay competitive with store security. This is just a how-not-to-get-caught training video for future criminals.
Maybe it could turn into a game. Beat the AI security.