Last week, a friendly Amazon employee asked me if I would like to start shopping by scanning a QR code in the Amazon app at the opening of a Whole Foods Market in Washington's Glover Park neighborhood. I chose to use my palm for scanning and linked it to my Amazon account within a minute before entering the highly advanced grocery store. I shopped for the next 30 minutes. I bought cauliflower florets, grapefruit sparkling water, strawberries, and organic chicken sausages at the store. Cameras and sensors tracked my movements and created a virtual shopping cart for me in real time. I didn't need a cashier, I just walked out and Amazon would bill my account later. Amazon purchased Whole Foods for $13 billion over four years ago. The grocery chain's transformation into an Amazon-owned entity is now fully realized with the renovated Whole Foods store in Glover Park. Previously, Amazon had taken gradual steps to integrate its influence into the hundreds of Whole Foods locations in the US and UK, primarily through discounts and free home delivery for Amazon Prime members. However, the 21,000-square-foot Whole Foods store near Georgetown, along with a forthcoming prototype store in Los Angeles, represents a significant advancement in Amazon's role in the grocery industry. These stores are designed to be predominantly operated by tracking and robotic technology, marking a new era in grocery shopping. The Just Walk Out technology involves numerous cameras that have a comprehensive view of customers, as well as sensors placed under each item in the store. Deep-learning software is used to analyze shopping behavior and improve the accuracy of charges. This technology is similar to what is used in driverless cars, as it can detect when a product is picked up and automatically charge customers when they leave the store. Anyone who has an Amazon account, not just Prime members, can use this method of shopping and avoid a traditional cash register by having the bill charged to their Amazon account. Amazon has been testing this automated technology for over four years, starting with 24 Amazon Go convenience stores and several Amazon Fresh grocery stores nationwide. The palm-scanning technology, called Amazon One, is now being used by other businesses, such as a Hudson convenience store at Dallas Love Field Airport and Shaquille O’Neal's Big Chicken restaurant at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. These stores served as important experiments, according to Dilip Kumar, Amazon's vice president of physical retail and technology. The company sees Whole Foods as another step in its expansion of technology into retail stores. Kumar stated that they identified areas that caused issues for customers and actively worked to find solutions to alleviate those issues. One example was customers not liking standing in checkout lines, which led to the development of the Just Walk Out technology. He did not confirm if Amazon intended to expand this technology to all Whole Foods stores. According to Karen Weise, an Amazon expert at the New York Times, Amazon operates with long-term goals, allowing them to slowly transform various industries over many years. The Whole Foods in Glover Park has been a central part of the neighborhood for over 20 years, serving as a cornerstone for residents near Embassy Row and the vice president's Naval Observatory residence. Despite facing closure four years ago due to a dispute with the landlord and a rat infestation, Amazon has announced plans to reopen the store as a Just Walk Out pilot project. While the rats may be gone, the neighborhood still harbors some concerns. The renovated store has caused a lively local discussion among residents on social media and email groups. Some residents are divided on whether the store's new technology gives off a "dystopian" vibe or is impressive. Some residents fondly remember the store's previous inviting atmosphere with free samples and pancakes. Alex Levin, a long-time resident, believes that people should not reject the store's changes and should instead use the technology to their advantage. He shared an anecdote of trying to trick the store's cameras and sensors but was unsuccessful, as Amazon did not charge him for the items he attempted to steal. However, some people mentioned that they discovered mistakes in their bills and were unhappy about the switch from selling produce by weight to selling it per item, bundle, or box. Some people also lamented the disappearance of the checkout line, where they enjoyed browsing magazines and last-minute impulse purchases. Additionally, many people were wary of the tracking technology, with one retired librarian comparing it to George Orwell's novel "1984." Amazon stated that it did not have any intention of utilizing video and other customer information from Whole Foods for advertising or its recommendation engine. Customers who are not interested in participating in the new technology can simply enter the store without signing in and make their purchases at self-checkout kiosks using a credit card or cash. As a loyal customer of the Whole Foods in Glover Park, I had been looking forward to exploring the changes in the store, which I had previously found to be dark, cramped, and chaotic. However, my feelings became mixed somewhere between the palm scan and the six-pack banana bundles. I became aware of a sign near the entrance that prohibited shoppers from taking photos or videos inside the store. I glanced up at the ceiling and saw many small black plastic boxes hanging from the rafters. An employee informed me that those were the cameras that would track me during my shopping trip. There were workers at the entrance helping customers check in, as well as others at the seafood counter, cheese station, and produce areas. Kumar mentioned that human employees would always be present in the stores, but I couldn't help but wonder for how much longer. Amazon, facing criticism for how it treats its workers, announced that employees may eventually have more customer interaction duties. This indicates a move towards a more self-service model. For example, when I went to the bakery and asked for my $4.99 Harvest loaf to be sliced, I was directed to a professional bread slicer for customers, with a warning label about sharp blades and moving parts. Kumar refused to provide information on the accuracy of Just Walk Out, so I decided to test the technology myself. I took an organic avocado and put it with nonorganic avocados. After shopping, I returned for the same organic avocado. If the cameras and sensors were working correctly, Amazon would detect my actions and charge me for the misplaced organic avocado. At checkout, I could use a self-checkout kiosk or skip the process. I chose the second option and waved my hand over a turnstile to exit. The turnstile opened, and an employee informed me that I would receive my receipt in two to three hours. I left feeling uneasy, as if I could be wrongly perceived as a shoplifter. I received an email from Amazon in my inbox one hour later. The email contained a link that directed me to my Amazon account where I could view the details. According to the email, my shopping session lasted 32 minutes and 26 seconds, and my total bill was $34.35. I was charged the correct amount for the organic avocado.