NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) "tweeted" about his shopping experience at Hudson News, one of the largest retail shopping centers in almost every airport across the United States.
"Technology is getting outta control. Has anybody been in the airport and entered the Hudson News nonstop store? I walked into the store by inserting my credit card and once I picked out what I wanted I just walked out. Not sure how I feel about that" - Reggie Wayne
If this is your first time hearing about this technology, I'm with you. But apparently, the service is not as new as I initially believed. In December 2021, Hudson, a Dufry company, announced that they would be the first retailer in the travel industry to offer this palm payment service. Amazon is the company behind this "just walk out" technology, professionally known as Amazon One.
Amazon One is a biometric payment service that reads our palms to confirm our identity and validate our purchase of items or access to venues powered by generative AI and Machine Learning. The Hudson press release clarifies that customers do not have to sign up with their palms; you can access their stores using just a credit or debit card. The customer experience of grabbing your items and walking out would still apply. I could not find additional information on how that works exactly, but it's easy to infer how Amazon uses a similar form of biometrics to process payments.
This "just walk out" technology is an interesting example of how artificial intelligence will influence our lives in the future. While we are getting convenience in our retail shopping, the idea that we are authorizing corporations to have more insight into our biometrics and personal data is an issue that should be understood just as much as the convenience we'll get.
