Amazon has launched this week a virtual shopping assistant based on artificial intelligence trained with its product catalog, user questions and answers, ratings, as well as information from the entire web. This tool, named Rufus, has been launched in beta phase among a selection of US customers, and will be available to more users in the coming weeks.
According to a company publication, customers will be able to chat with Rufus within the Amazon mobile app to get help in searching for products, compare products, and get recommendations on what to buy. The chatbot will not include advertising at its launch, although it will be gradually added in the coming months.
As an example, Amazon suggests that a customer who wants to buy running shoes could ask Rufus questions like “What should I consider when buying running shoes?”. “What are the differences between trail shoes and road shoes?” or “Are they durable?”.
“It is still early for generative AI, and the technology will not always get it right,” says Amazon in their publication. “We will continue to improve our AI models and adjust the responses so that Rufus becomes more and more useful. We encourage customers to send us their feedback by rating their responses with a thumbs up or thumbs down, and they also have the option to do so freely.”
