Imagine having anything you want with the wave of your hand – it can now happen thanks to Amazon Palm Pay.  

Amazon Palm Pay is a new method of payment set up to make the experience faster and safer. It happens by inserting your card into the paying kiosk and then hovering your palm above the reader. Your palm will then be connected to the card you use – when checking out, the palm will be scanned, and the connected card will be charged. 

Professor Sabrina Perry, who teaches computational media at the University of Mississippi and does research on artificial intelligence, approached this subject from both a personal and a researcher’s standpoint.  

“From a personal standpoint, sometimes I’m against things that use anything biometrically because once someone manipulates my fingerprints I can’t just change my fingerprints, those are permanent things,” Perry said. 

Perry claimed that any changes in her fingerprints could lead to a security risk in this payment method. She also believes that if someone was able to get ahold of her fingerprint or manipulate what they look like online, the situation could become dangerous.  

“The iPhones used fingerprint unlock at one time, but it wasn’t as secure and advanced as we thought it would be. My husband is in the military so his fingerprints, once we go on base, work, but if that gets manipulated in any way, it can cost him his job,” Perry said. 

Engineering student Jacob Williams agreed that there is a tenuous balance between convenience and the sanctity of our personal information.  

“The convenience of this technology sounds great, but giving big corporations even more access to private information is not something I think we should do,” Williams said. 

From a research standpoint, though, Perry’s opinion differs. 

“The research part, I love it; because that is an authentication method that we can use to make sure that person is who they say they are,” Perry said. 

Perry claims that using biometrics data can also make checking out extra secure. 

“In a point of Amazon palm method, that can be a very secure and unique way to check out. If you are using that in a checkout center, all that information that is stored about you is going to be seamless. It could be a faster payment method than me trying to find my credit card in my purse,” Perry said. 

Perry continues with this sentiment by talking about the new speed it could introduce to the check out process. 

“It’s faster and it could reduce your checkout times and a long wait (for) things. It can speed up the process of a lot of things,” Perry said. 

When asked about the speed of checking out using biometrics, Williams shared his sentiment on Amazon Palm Pay by discussing his thoughts on AI in general. 

“AI can be a powerful tool to progress society and technology to a new level, but it can also be very dangerous if we try to use something we do not fully understand too quickly,” Williams said.