Google’s Discovery AI is a set of advanced algorithms made specifically to simplify shelf check operations.
The official announcement came from Google Cloud on Friday, January 13. The tech giant founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin introduced Discovery AI to the public.
According to Google’s statement, this new form of artificial intelligence is designed to support businesses working in the retail context.
In the context of supermarkets and similar businesses in fact, this solution should help manage the goods on the shelves (and beyond).
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Google introduces Discovery AI: what is it all about?
When we refer to Discovery AI, we are actually talking about as many as four new technologies based on particular algorithms. As already announced, these focus on supermarkets and similar businesses. But also provide useful solutions in the context of e-commerce with a large number of products.
This innovation, which is likely to change the very concept of the supermarket, was also presented with great enthusiasm by Carrie Tharp, VP of Retail and Consumer at Google. Who said:
“The changes of the past few years have reshaped the retail landscape and the tools retailers need to be more efficient, more appealing to their customers” and then went on to point out how “the real leaders will be those who take on today’s toughest challenges, both in physical stores and online, using the most advanced technological tools, such as machine learning.”
Shelf management according to Google
For supermarket owners, restocking the shelves is a major concern. In fact, each unavailable product often results in a lost sale. And, in many cases, even the loss of a customer’s trust.
It is precisely from this need that Discover AI was born, which offers support through Google Cloud artificial intelligence, thanks to AI Vision technology, to address this problem.
Through this system, in fact, it is possible to identify any gaps of products on the shelves. And thus obtain valuable information for relevant replenishments.
The AI system in question relies on Vertex. This is a special scanning engine that works by relying on a huge database provided by Google, which contains billions of products.
Making Discovery AI even more effective, is also the principle of machine learning, as mentioned by Carrie Tharp. Through this system, the software learns to identify products through the aesthetic features of the packaging, acting with a simple “look” at the shelf.
Google Discovery AI and digital shopping
However, the artificial intelligence proposed by Google goes further, affecting e-commerce inventory management as well.
With the solution proposed by Google Cloud, artificial intelligence is able to better manage internal site searches. This, by proposing to the potential customer the specific product he or she was looking for.
In this sense, the manager can also count on orders and replenishments in line with the sales trend thanks to the aforementioned machine learning system, which is capable of improving with the passage of time.
In short, Discovery AI turns out to be, as well as ChatGPT, one of the most interesting innovations in artificial intelligence in recent times.
