Tesco's introduction of AI technology to some self-checkouts has led to customers joking that it bears a striking resemblance to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology used in football.
The supermarket is aiming to reduce shoplifting by installing overhead cameras to identify when shoppers fail to scan an item properly, and then showing a live-action replay of the item not scanning.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that shoplifting offences recorded by police in England and Wales rose 20% last year to 516,971, external.
But the number of thefts recorded by retailers themselves is even higher. Figures from the British Retail Consortium suggest there were 20.4 million thefts in the year to last September, up 3.7 million on the year before, costing retailers £2bn.
On Bluesky, a user voiced fears, external that the technology could open the door to more surveillance measures. "What's next? Drones to follow… you about the store?"
One Tesco worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the BBC they were grateful for the addition of the new tech.
"I work on self-service for Tesco and feel like I double up as a security guard," they said.
"You're not paid very well anyway and then you have tills to look after.
"I quite often have to monitor 10 self-checkouts, on my own, whilst two staff cover manual checkouts," they said, adding that there were many customers who steal and try to "con the system".
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20q5q92y2yo