Amazon Plans To Add ChatGPT-Style Search To Its Online Stores

In the latest big tech company to enter the AI race, Amazon.com Inc has announced it plans to bring ChatGPT-style product search to its web store. The news comes after Google and Microsoft announced they would weave generative AI into their search engines.

This new conversational product search function has the potential to revolutionise a key element of Amazon’s retail business. The search bar at the top of the page has become a gateway for millions of shoppers around the world to find a product.

The use of AI in these search functions could provide users with a more valuable way of finding key products. Whereas Amazon and Google have become well known for prioritising advertised items, this new function could help consumers cut through the noise and find the products that are genuinely best for them.

Andy Jassy, ​​Amazon’s chief executive, said on an earnings call last month that the technology “presents a remarkable opportunity to transform nearly every customer experience.” This could see the retail giant move away from adverts – causing chaos for many businesses relying on the platform for revenue.

Alongside the use of AI in e-commerce, Amazon is hoping to use similar technology to improve its Alexa voice assistant according to Business Insider. Searches online also show a number of AI-related jobs posted by the company, showing it has no plans to slow down in the AI race.

“We’re immediately looking for the best and brightest across Amazon to help us realize and deliver on this vision for our customers,” the company said in a listing posted on its job board last month. “It will be a once in a generation change for discovery.”

Another posted job will be part of a new AI-first initiative to “re-architect and reengineer the way we search through the use of next-generation deep learning techniques at an extremely large scale”. “

Source: Bloomberg