Tired of running out of milk? Imagine never having to deal with that minor inconvenience again. You pour the last drop into your morning coffee, blissfully unconcerned that the carton is now empty. By the time you return home from work, a fresh carton has magically replaced the empty as if there were grocery fairies that tend to your fridge.

Walmart is aiming to make this grocery fantasy a reality for customers through their InHome delivery service. The company recently announced an AI-powered upgrade to the program that will automatically order new items when you run low — no more scanning sad empty containers or tediously building online shopping carts. The $20 per month members-only service already offers direct fridge delivery, but customers previously had to select items themselves through an app. Now, by leveraging AI to analyze individual shopping habits and patterns, Walmart hopes to essentially shop on your behalf.

The new AI-enabled auto-replenishment capability is still in early development. Amazon previously tried something similar with its Dash Replacement service for things like laundry pods and smoke detector batteries, but the highly variable nature of grocery shopping makes effectively predicting needs much more complex. Both companies offer recurring item delivery, but Walmart’s latest initiative takes it a step further by dynamically responding to actual consumption rather than shipping the same items at fixed intervals regardless of usage.

Walmart’s major AI push was on full display at their extravagant CES 2024 booth dedicated to their latest innovations. One attention-grabbing unveiling was a new generative AI search engine for Walmart’s iOS app. Instead of requiring precise search terms or item names, shoppers can ask more general questions like “what do I need for a Super Bowl party?” and receive tailored recommendations.

Membership-warehouse chain Sam’s Club, owned by Walmart, also showcased cart-scanning technology designed to bypass the tedious receipt and cart checking process required when exiting most stores. Computer vision tracks items placed in carts and cross references them with payment records to validate everything has been purchased. This aims to eliminate the common customer bottleneck at exit points and reduce cumbersome anti-theft procedures. Unsurprisingly, Amazon pioneered a similar approach with their cashier-less Go retail stores.

Through aggressive investment in initiatives like drone delivery and all these emerging AI shopping tools, Walmart ultimately strives to make acquiring goods both frictionless and rapid. Sometimes that means transforming mundane tasks like grocery shopping into enjoyable discoveries, other times it’s about getting necessary items seamlessly without the consumer lifting a finger. Maybe one day the refrigerator will replenish itself…we can dream.