Björn Fromm, Edeka dealer and president of the Berlin-Brandenburg trade association, at the trade forum’s discussion evening
Photo: Sven Darmer
By Isabel Pancake
Retail is changing: artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly important. That was also the topic at the trade forum organized by the trade association, BILD Berlin-Brandenburg and BZ on Wednesday.
In the EDEKA stores of Björn Fromm, President of the Retail Association (HBB), AI already plays an important role, for example in self-service checkouts. Fromm in the panel discussion with BZ chief columnist Gunnar Schupelius: “You’re not cutting jobs, you’re preserving jobs because you can’t get the people at the moment.”
According to Stepahn Tromp, deputy general manager of the German Trade Association (HDE) and managing director of HDE Trade Services, AI does not replace everything. He says: “No AI or online shop will be able to provide the emotional experience and feel.”
But: According to Severin Fischer, State Secretary of the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Enterprises, clear rules of the game are needed for AI – for example when it comes to protecting personal rights.
Dr. also warns against this. Rainer Mühlhoff from the University of Osnabrück – the first professor for ethics of artificial intelligence. He says: “You always have to ask yourself: Who actually has an interest in the technology finding its way into the company? If you have cameras in your stores watching customers and creating customer profiles, you can also do other things with it.”
The danger: The data from retail could be used for political advertising. Or even for advertising for online shops…