Yet another misadventure with technology

Some of us are running behind because we are failing to talk about post-COVID global lifestyle changes that were inevitably, and therefore forcefully, brought about by humans who had no other choice but to speed up many technological developments.

So here's something I don't know yet but would like to understand:

Is Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms installed in Malaysian bookshops now?

My relative on Friday messaged me that he was in a bookshop in Kuala Lumpur but that the bookshop he went in (didn't tell me which one) wants pictures of the covers of the four books I want.

I told him it doesn't matter which cover is there because the content would be the same. Hence, I told him to tell the cashier or sales promotor that as long as the book name and author name matches, it is fine with me.

I feel very old to say this but in my time the cashier would go through a computer system and check for author and/or book name from an inventory.

Sometimes the sales promotors would check the shelves because I suppose books are arranged in alphabetical order whether it's by the author or book name.

May be I have already become a dinosaur nearing extinction because when I raised this issue, quite a handful of friends updated me about the advancements in technology over the past few years.

Seems image based query/searching is available for a long time. So not a big deal if they asked for a cover photo, I was told by a friend. That just confirmed I am a dinosaur. 😂

Another friend said barcodes, QR codes etc., can also be used to search for the books.

However, another friend pointed out that not everyone entering a bookshop would be having pictures of covers of the books they want and therefore there should be other ways for the bookshop to check for the availability of the books the customer wants.

Another friend echoed this sentiment and is more in agreement with my idea of traditional ways of searching for books the store may have in their stock. He said that while image based searching exists, he is sure all bookshops have an inventory of titles they can just search on the system.

"Would take less time than the technologically advanced methods 😀", he quipped.

Another friend said that sometimes the staff would be vain and acting in a manner of harassment. That's true because when I was studying in Malaysia 22 years ago, I sometimes faced rude communication and treatment at businesses run by the Malays and Chinese.

Seems former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed's dream of creating a society based on multicultural tolerance among the three races in Malaysia are largely unsuccessful. Malays are the majority, followed by Chinese, while Indians are at the bottom. It seems that my Brown skin made me look like an Indian in appearance that just begs harassment! 😱

The bookstore could have explained all this to my relative who is more older than me but he would have understood and avoided messaging me right in the middle of me watching Mission Impossible 7 at the Schwack cinema in Hulhumale.

Some of these things have been explained to me by a friend who went to Malaysia recently. He said that it's not we are old and been unable to keep abreast with technology but that we don't know about these changes to our global lifestyle as people are not talking about the technological developments that took place as a result of COVID.