"Big Brother is watching you" - artificial intelligence and the retail sector Lexology

"If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself." Following on from our review of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing and the Industry 4.0 Revolution, we look at the use of AI in the retail sector. As we will explore in this article, retailers are collecting data, and, combined with AI, are able to improve the efficiency, and the experience of shopping, making it easier for the consumer to find what they're looking for (even if they don't know they're looking for it), saving time and cutting retailers' costs. By using AI, retailers may begin to get an idea about what a particular consumer is looking for better, even, than consumers themselves. There may come a time where consumers could be under almost constant surveillance by retailers in terms of what they're looking at, buying and turning down – providing an insight into consumer preferences.