Hamed Haddadi, professor of human-centred systems at Imperial College London, likens these chatbots to an "inexperienced therapist", and points out that humans with decades of experience will be able to engage and "read" their patient based on many things, while bots are forced to go on text alone.
"Are children even kept out of the dataset? Who can access this data? Is it shared with police? Is my data being sold? We need answers to these questions!"Heather, 30, from Nottingham says the tech makes her feel uncomfortable and punishes shoppers who are honest and use the self-scan as intended.
"Yes, you have cameras following you everywhere in the store, but this is simply too invasive," she told the BBC."If stores are so paranoid about shoppers stealing goods, then they should go back to staffed tills instead of wasting money on this invasive technology."The move marks the latest attempt by retailers to try to stem the rise in shoplifting.
at its Gateshead store, which prompted a similarly mixed response from shoppers earlier this year."Am I at border control or Tesco?" asked one Reddit user.
Last week Greggs announced that it will
behind the counter at sites where there are high levels of theft.He tried to take his own life last autumn, and since then he says he has been on a NHS waitlist.
"My partner and I have been up to the doctor's surgery a few times, to try to get it [talking therapy] quicker. The GP has put in a referral [to see a human counsellor] but I haven't even had a letter off the mental health service where I live."While Nicholas is chasing in-person support, he has found using Wysa has some benefits.
"As someone with autism, I'm not particularly great with interaction in person. [I find] speaking to a computer is much better."The app allows patients to self-refer for mental health support, and offers tools and coping strategies such as a chat function, breathing exercises and guided meditation while they wait to be seen by a human therapist, and can also be used as a standalone self-help tool.