Generative AI meets online shopping: Amazon unveils AI tool to answer shoppers’ questions

Say goodbye to traditional product descriptions. Amazon is shaking things up by introducing an AI-powered tool to help shoppers get AI-powered answers to products on its website. The tech giant announced on Tuesday that it is rolling out an artificial intelligence feature designed to answer shoppers’ inquiries about products.

Here’s how it works: When using Amazon’s mobile app, users can now ask specific questions about a product, and the AI tool provides a quick response within seconds. The tool achieves this by summarizing information gathered from both product reviews and the product listing itself.

Marketplace Pulse, an e-commerce research firm, first spotted this generative AI tool, and Amazon’s spokesperson later confirmed the company’s experimentation with generative AI to enhance its services and customer experience, CNBC reported.

Maria Boschetti, the Amazon spokesperson, said in an email, “We’re constantly inventing to help make customers’ lives better and easier, and are currently testing a new feature powered by generative AI to improve shopping on Amazon by helping customers get answers to commonly asked product questions.”

This feature aims to save shoppers from the hassle of scrolling through numerous reviews or parsing through lengthy product listings to find relevant information.

Amazon’s AI Shopping Assistant

It’s important to note that, unlike OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Amazon’s tool is not designed for engaging in conversations. However, it can respond to creative prompts. For instance, on a women’s vest listing, it might craft a haiku about the product or describe it in the style of Yoda from Star Wars. The tool is designed to stay on topic and will provide an error message if faced with questions like, “Who is Jeff Bezos?”

Amazon has been actively incorporating AI into its platform in recent months. From AI-generated summaries of product reviews to features assisting third-party sellers in creating listings and generating ad photos, the company is leveraging AI to enhance various aspects of its services. CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the use of generative AI in inventory forecasting and optimizing last-mile routes for drivers during Amazon’s latest earnings call.

Jassy expressed optimism about the transformative impact of generative AI on customer experiences, making it more accessible for developers and business users alike. The introduction of such AI tools reflects Amazon’s commitment to continual innovation and improving the overall shopping experience for its customers.

“Generative AI is going to change every customer experience, and it’s going to make it much more accessible for everyday developers, and even business users, to use,” Jassy told CNBC’s Jim Cramer last month. “So I think there’s going to be a lot of societal good.”