Can AI Chatbots Do Your Holiday Shopping? Here’s What We Learned | Global News Avenue

Can an AI shopping assistant solve your holiday shopping woes? Maybe—if you look to them for thoughtful advice, but don’t take their guidance as gospel.

Artificial Intelligence Recommendations are coming to your shopping cart. As Americans use generative artificial intelligence tools to create shopping lists, compare products and track prices, retailers are breathing life into their chatbots to guide them through the complex online shopping landscape, analysts say. E-commerce websites and applications are integrating or creating their own versions of tools, e.g. ChatGPT and Google’s (Google“Gemini,” said Vivek Pandya, principal insights analyst at Adobe Insights.

To see how they’re getting on, I asked some AI-powered assistants for seasonal recommendations on some of the toughest names on my list, and the responses were both helpful and sometimes surprising. Someone found a game for my little niece that looks like a lot of fun. But it also said a tool that could cut metal would be good for my frail grandmother, who is in her 90s.

Shop, the virtual storefront of e-commerce software company Shopify (shop), which launched an artificial intelligence chatbot last year. Amazon (Amazon) introduced Rufus in February, saying the virtual assistant received training on its catalog, customer reviews and outside sources. Walmart (WMT) has launched a similar tool that is currently available to select customers.

Consumers appear to be embracing virtual shopping assistants. According to Adobe, online vendors saw traffic from established AI vendors increase nearly 2,000% year-over-year on Cyber ​​Monday. According to market research firm NielsenIQ, consumers say shopping is one of the top tasks they want to accomplish using generative AI. (Merchants also use them to help with tasks like order tracking and returns.)

“The No. 1 (usage) focus is ‘help me find the right product when I’m shopping,’ and that’s not what we expected,” said Jason Boyd, senior vice president of commercial consumer insights at NielsenIQ.

Bot offers shopping suggestions and some DIY ideas

Rufus recommended Taco vs. Burrito, a card game created by a 7-year-old, to my niece. But my 93-year-old grandma is having a harder time, and I’ve noticed that her memory is very poor. The chatbot suggested she create “personalized projects” with assistance using a machine capable of cutting vinyl and metal. (It also brought out photo albums, blankets and more traditional gifts.)

The store’s assistant came up with a list of personalized items I could buy or make for my grandmother—from calendars with family photos to memory jars—though in the latter case, it provided a way to decorate the container and put it in Which fills the Snapshot and Memory jars with instructions for making them. A description of a favorite moment, not an option to buy something.

I also asked my boss, who I had only worked with for six weeks. Both Amazon and store associates said I could make a good impression with books on professional development and leadership. (They also list options like desk accessories, gift certificates, and delicious snacks.)

Amazon said in a blog post that it welcomes feedback to adjust its use of emerging technologies. Shop has successfully used artificial intelligence to customize experiences for users and will continue to improve its approach, executives said on a recent earnings call.

At a time when generative AI is still likely to change dramatically, Pandya said retailers are experimenting with new tools that will become easier to use and more effective over time; today, when users enter carefully crafted questions , the tool usually gives the best answer.

“We are still in the rapid development phase of generative AI,” Pandya said.