Amazon is experimenting with using artificial intelligence to sum up customer feedback about products on the site, with the potential to cut down on the time shoppers spend sifting through reviews before making a purchase.
On the Amazon product page for Apple鈥檚 third-generation AirPods, for example, the AI feature now sums up the more than 4,000 user ratings to note that the wireless headphones 鈥渉ave received positive feedback from customers regarding their sound quality and battery life.鈥 But, it adds, 鈥渕ixed opinions were also expressed about the performance, durability, fit, comfort, and value of the headphones.鈥
The summary features the disclaimer: 鈥淎I-generated from the text of customer reviews.鈥
鈥淲e are significantly investing in generative AI across all of our businesses,鈥 Amazon said in a statement to CNN on Monday, referring to the technology that underpins services such as ChatGPT.
The effort, first reported by CNBC, marks Amazon鈥檚 latest attempt to incorporate generative AI into its services and has the potential to help customers quickly determine the pros and cons of various products. But there are limits.
For starters, the AI wording is not always intuitive. In the AirPods review, for example, the blurb says 鈥渁ll customers who mentioned stability had a negative opinion about it.鈥
As with other generative AI tools, which are trained on vast troves of data online to come up with responses, there are also concerns about tone, accuracy and its potential to 鈥渉allucinate鈥 details.
鈥淕iven that generative AI is based on probability, mistakes are possible 鈥 and summaries may not be an accurate reflection of customer reviews,鈥 said Reece Hayden, a senior analyst at market research firm ABI Research. 鈥淭he possibility of hallucinations will be a worry for customers and merchants.鈥
Hayden also questions whether the tool will be able to decipher fraudulent or bot-created reviews. 鈥淭hese reviews will be treated equally and therefore the summary may reflect fake, non-customer reviews,鈥 Hayden said. (Amazon didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment on this possibility.)
Amazon isn鈥檛 the only e-commerce company blending generative AI into the shopping experience. Some companies such as Shopify and Instacart are using the technology to help inform customers鈥 shopping decisions. Meanwhile, eBay recently rolled out an AI tool to help sellers generate product listing descriptions.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in a letter to shareholders in April that the company remains focused on 鈥渋nvesting heavily鈥 in the technology 鈥渁cross all of our consumer, seller, brand, and creator experiences.鈥 The company is also reportedly working on adding ChatGPT-like search capabilities for its e-commerce store, and it鈥檚 rumoured to be planning to use generative AI to bring conversational language to a home robot.
Last month, Dave Limp, senior VP of devices and services, told CNN there is great interest in bringing generative AI to virtual assistant Alexa, so users can interact with the technology in a more fluid, natural way.
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