I don't think you are right. Think about different sized items that all come in one size of box. Shoes for example. The AI knows it is a shoebox, but the size, style and color of the shoes inside is on the bar code.
Yeah but it’s not just about the box size. There’s colors pictures and text on the box. When a shoe store guy goes to the back room to get you the style and size you requested he ain’t using the barcode. He’s using the little square that has a picture of the shoe, the color (usually both in a square of color and with words), and size (usually in multiple measurement systems).
And as the article said, not all stuff is in nice neat 6 sided boxes. Some stuff is irregular. And even regular stuff who knows where they put the barcode. Anybody who’s actually watched a grocery store clerk, or done self checkout, knows it’s pretty random. Some companies like it on top where it can easily be scanned coming out of the shipping box. Some on the bottom where it’s easy for the clerk. Some like it on the front... I have no idea why. Some like it on the back. Heck I’ve even seen them on the side, which I’m pretty sure is just to be annoying. The level of teaching you have to do to a robot so it knows where Post puts their barcodes vs Betty Crocker vs Kellogg it’s already going to have know what the product is to know where the barcode is. And again, if the robot already figured out what the product is, scanning the barcode is just wasted time.