Thanks to Amazon, grocery shopping just got a bit more interesting and less stressful. Imagine if you could walk into a grocery store, grab the food that you need, and walk out, all without ever standing in a checkout line.

This is becoming reality.

According to Usa Today, Amazon is now testing out this type of store in downtown Seattle. 

Customers will tap their phones on a turnstile as they enter the store, which then charges their purchases to their Amazon account.

The service, called Amazon Go, will use machine learning, sensors and artificial intelligence to track items customers pick up in the store. 

It gets crazier: if on your grocery store experience you decide you don't need/want an item, placing it back on the shelf will then remove it from your Amazon account. 

The project started in 2012 and is currently being tested by Amazon employees, and will hopefully be public in early 2017.

Phil Lempert, a food marketing expert based in Los Angeles says, "the technology is amazing."

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We are excited to see more of this. On the other hand, is this really necessary?  What about the jobs that will be lost if this invention spreads nationwide.  

Just think about New York as a state; just in this state alone there are 29,268 retail food stores.  Think about the jobs that this could prevent if this becomes standard procedure.

Of course, Quartz says we should probably calm the F down a bit before we get a little too crazy about automation.

selvaggiacapizzi


But what about your local grocery store, you know, the ones already getting lampooned by Whole Foods and Trader Joe's

Imagine having that grocery store with no employees. No one to say hello to, no one to help you with your 15 grocery bags, and no one to look forward to seeing during your next trip.

Technological advancement? Yes. A little lazy? Yes. Necessary? Not really. 

[via UsaToday] [Feature Image Courtesy CNBC] 

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