TapTechNews May 14th, German supermarket EdekaJaegar recently announced the introduction of a self-checkout machine system at the store located in Stuttgart Airport that uses AI to check the age of customers. It claims to be able to analyze consumer facial features using visual processing technology to determine the age and allow customers to purchase restricted items.
The supermarket stated that previously, when customers purchased age-restricted items such as tobacco and alcohol and used self-checkout machines, they still had to have their IDs checked by a human cashier, delaying the checkout process.
With the introduction of AI cameras, once customers scan age-restricted items at the self-checkout, the system will ask if the customer needs age recognition. Once consent is obtained, the checkout machine will use the built-in camera and algorithm to verify the age in real time. If the shopper's age is above a predefined threshold, the transaction can proceed. If the user's appearance is too young, then the ID card still needs to be submitted to an employee for verification.
Edeka supermarket emphasized that this AI system can complete the verification process within 10 seconds, claiming to increase the checkout speed of relevant products by 75%; the system complies with privacy regulations such as GDPR and does not store customer facial data.