If you’ve been paying close attention to the news, you know that AI is on the rise in our lives. Whether or not you agree with the technology, it’s being rolled out in new ways that affect us daily. The large corporation Walmart is already utilizing AI facial recognition in various contexts. These AI developments are being used to identify shoplifters for loss prevention and error identification. Now, a South Carolina Walmart shopper experienced something dystopian and a bit disturbing when he purchased an item (with cash, no less) at his local store.
South Carolina personal injury lawyer John Graham (@attyjdgraham) recently posted a TikTok about a creepy experience he had at Walmart. He asks his TikTok audience, “How does Walmart know what I’m buying in cash?” As John explains, he purchased a product with cash at a local Walmart. Now, days later, he received an email from Walmart. It asked him, “Hey, can you rate this product that you purchased recently?” It was a product that he recently purchased but he didn’t use a card or the Walmart app to purchase it. If it was bought with cash, how would they know John even purchased it? And how did they correctly identify his email?
John goes on to say that he’s never once had the Walmart app on his phone. Furthermore, he said he didn’t even have his phone with him in the store at the time of his purchase. This left him feeling completely dumbfounded. It feels like an oversight by the company. On top of that, it’s nothing new to feel like we’re living in a surveillance state with widespread monitoring of all citizens. With the growth of AI, it’s difficult to not feel that way.
One commenter explained that it was probably “Facial recognition.” She goes on to suggest, “Zenni sells glasses that block facial recognition.” This sounds incredibly useful for those who want to remain anonymous and avoid recognition systems without their consent. It also verifies that data cannot be collected on you. This may have something to do with why John received that email. It’s safe to say that he probably won’t be rating that product anytime soon. And, as commenters hilariously suggested, “Going to make cash purchases at Walmart so I can be part of class action lawsuit.” Because when privacy is breached, a lawsuit could definitely be on its way.
