People Are Conspiring To Rob Employee-less Amazon Stores

A viral TikTok showcasing the latest Amazon experiment—employee-less stores that automatically charge you for what you walk out with—has people salivating at the opportunities for thievery and concerned about what an employee-less store may mean for the future.

The TikTok posted by @Uptin, which has gained over 2.6 million likes on the platform, shows him perusing Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh locations, which both utilize technology that automatically registers what a person takes from a store and charges an account for it, removing the need for checkout lines—and employees.

@uptin

Amazon is opening hundreds of ##AmazonFresh and ##AmazonGo stores.

♬ original sound – Uptin

The video migrated to Twitter when @Th5_Oracle tweeted about it, leading to a diverse array of disapproving reactions. Many were disturbed at the surveillance implications of using cell phones and data to track consumer purchases.

don't mind me, just casually emboldening a massive, terrifying surveillance apparatus so that I don't have to have a human interaction when buy some Doritoshttps://t.co/AJlgAfRUnF

— Michael DeForge (@michael_deforge) April 7, 2021

"we replaced jobs with the surveillance state" is the 21st century in a phrase. https://t.co/ONnK8FM3Sa

— Kelsey D. Atherton (@AthertonKD) April 7, 2021

Others were concerned at the loss of jobs the concept would instigate if it spread nationwide.

Lol @ the people who were so worried that poor immigrants would take their job. Surprise! It was a white billionaire. https://t.co/V4ag7ztcq7

— Imagine trusting Politicians and Celebrities😂 (@skye_daddy) April 7, 2021

If something’s not broken why try to fix it?? This will just put millions of ppl out of jobs. Evil https://t.co/SHFUNCnLrt

— sigh⁷ⁿ🌺 (@hayleysjue) April 7, 2021

interestingly enough, i wrote a paper in college about how the advancement of technology would put people out of jobs, such as cashiers and retailers and it's actually happening before my eyes… this is actually sad -- this is called technological unemployment https://t.co/ww7IaMbGKj

— JACINDA (@brokebackboys) April 7, 2021

Others immediately began brainstorming how they would rob it.

what if i hop that bitch … now what https://t.co/sjNbwOUFyw

— l°nelynit3brnd (@akbrandamont) April 7, 2021

Catch me throwin shit over the gate to my homies. Free munchies https://t.co/ycRQJWEYVJ

— Set sail for Von Piece (@Egguzeid) April 7, 2021

we’re about to enter the golden age of shoplifting & hardware hacking

going to be so funny to see these stores gutted and people stealing hundreds of delivery drones just for shits and giggles https://t.co/BsPr6Rdnt3

— jack wagner (@jackdwagner) April 7, 2021

According to @Uptin's TikTok, there are 30 Amazon Go stores spread around major cities in America. The stores have been around for several years, though this is the first time they've received significant backlash from social media. When Amazon first introduced the concept in 2016, they mentioned they'd hoped to open 2,000 locations in America.