Companies bet on AI cameras to track social distancing, limit liability

Workers scan and pick items for an order near a surveillance camera inside a Yandex NV Lavka dark store in Moscow, Russia. Some technology consultants that advise retailers and office landlords have cautioned clients against introducing new technology at a chaotic time and investing in tools that may be needed only for a period of months. Privacy activists concerned about increasingly detailed tracking of people also are urging businesses to limit use of the AI to the pandemic. — Bloomberg

OAKLAND, California: Stores and workplaces eager to avoid spreading the novel coronavirus are equipping existing security cameras with artificial intelligence software that can track compliance with health guidelines including social distancing and mask-wearing.

Several companies told Reuters the software will be crucial to staying open as concerns about Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, persist around the world. It will allow them to show not only workers and customers, but also insurers and regulators, that they are monitoring and enforcing safe practices.