Finland’s K Group has unveiled a series of ‘ethical principles’ governing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in its shopping channels, following the rollout of a number of convenient and individually-tailored services that utilise AI technology.
K Group said that it was making the move in order to ensure the ‘best interests and needs of [its] customers come first’, amidst the increasing use of AI technology in the retail channel.
Increased Usage
“We are already utilising artificial intelligence widely at K Group: to tailor personal benefits for our customers and offer them marketing that meets their interests in various contact points,” commented Anni Ronkainen, K Group’s chief digital officer.
“We can also promote the products each customer buys frequently on the front page of our online store. Going forward, we want to offer our customers more services that lend inspiration and convenience to their everyday lives. Artificial intelligence will help us offer the best individual services to our millions of customers.”
K Group has outlined five ethical principles for utilising artificial intelligence, including: transparency over where and how their data is being used; placing the best interests and needs of its customers first; maintaining ‘human contact’ through its AI solutions and algorithms; using AI to build a better society and a better world; and a pledge to continually engage in discussion about the implementation of AI, and develop principles around same.
Customer Trust
“As a company, we want to be worthy of our customers' trust,” said Minna Vakkilainen, K Group’s VP in charge of customer data and analytics.
“We want to create AI solutions our customers can benefit from. In order to do so, we need in-depth customer insight based on a variety of data such as data on K-Plussa purchases, customer feedback and product information. To obtain the data we must offer our customers solutions that provide true added value to their everyday lives.”
Vakkilainen added that the ethical principles for utilising AI “represent a policy that widely informs our operations, and they offer practical guidelines for our work. All people and partners working with K Group’s AI solutions must commit to following these principles in their work.”
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
