Alexa and other voice applications have become a staple in the home. Mainly used to turn on appliances, adjust the heat, or look up the weather – households rely on it to make their lives easier. Like households; warehouses have begun using voice applications to cope with the increase demand of shipping products. As demand continues to surge warehouses are looking at new ways to accelerate the supply chain process without reducing productivity and efficiency.

Last week Walmart opened its first AI-powered store in Levittown, New York. Called the Intelligent Retail Lab or, IRL; the store is the first of its kind. Exploring how AI technology can help stores like Walmart with everyday tasks like restocking; the IRL will monitor and track data that will give engineers the statistics they need to improve every facet of the store.

When my husband and I lived in the city we were pretty lucky in that only a few of our packages ever got stolen from our front door steps. It helped that our front door had a little nook that drivers could discretely tuck our packages into, hiding them away from thieves (or porch pirates as they’re commonly referred to) in our neighborhood. My neighbors though weren’t so lucky as many of them saw their packages mysteriously disappear.