Amazon has been activated Rufus, the new generative AI shopping assistant, on Thursday. The chatbot is trained on Amazon’s product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and “data from the web.” It’s only available to a limited number of Amazon customers for now, but will expand in the coming weeks.
The company views the assistant as a one-stop shop for all of the customers’ shopping needs. Rufus “What to look for when buying running shoes?” can answer questions like and “What are the differences between stair running shoes?” show comparisons for things like He also asked, “Are these sustainable?” can answer the following questions.
Amazon suggests asking Rufus for general advice on product categories, such as what to look for when buying headphones. It can also provide contextual advice by providing information about products based on specific activities (outings) or events (holidays or holidays). Other examples include asking her to compare product categories (“What’s the difference between lip gloss and lip balm?” or “Compare drip to pour-over coffee makers”). In addition, it can recommend gifts for people with special tastes or shopping recommendations for the holidays.
Rufus can also answer more specific questions about the specific product page you’re viewing. Amazon provides examples: “Is this pickle paddle good for beginners?” or “Is this jacket machine washable?”
Amazon said in 2023 every division of his company was working on generative artificial intelligence. Since the beginning AI powered review summariesand began encouraging sellers Make AI lists and image backgrounds for products. Rival Walmart teased similar feature for its buyers At CES 2024.
“It’s still early days for generative AI, and the technology won’t always get it exactly right,” wrote Amazon executive Rajiv Mehta. “We will continue to improve our AI models and fine-tune responses to make Rufus more useful over time. Customers are encouraged to provide feedback by up- or down-marking their answers, and they also have the option to provide free-form feedback.”
Rufus is only starting beta today for “a small number of customers,” and it will appear after Amazon updates the mobile app (for those in beta). The helper will continue to roll out to US customers “in the coming weeks.” Once the beta version is allowed, you can invoke Rufus by typing or speaking your questions into the search bar. A Rufus chat box will appear at the bottom of the screen.
