Amazon’s shopping-focused chatbot Rufus is rolling out across Europe. after returning to the US in February. It starts it’s being released in beta today in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, after arriving in England in September. It’s being rolled out gradually, and the company says it could take several weeks before every user in the aforementioned countries receives the software update.
To get started with Rufus, look for the icon in the lower right corner of the mobile app. This will open a dialog box. Customers can tap this chat box to ask additional questions or get more information about a pre-existing request. This is a beta version, so Amazon encourages customers to provide feedback by “rating their answers up or down.” There is also an option for more directed freeform feedback.
For the uninitiated, Rufus is a generative AI shopping assistant trained on Amazon’s entire product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and “data from the web.” It’s a chatbot, so customers can ask Rufus questions about products and the like.
For example, users can ask Rufus if a particular pair of running shoes is durable or if a jacket is machine washable. It’s artificial intelligence, though, so Amazon acknowledges that the data may not always be correct. “It’s still early days for generative AI, and the technology won’t always get it exactly right,” the company writes.
If you live in the US, you can already access the chatbot. Just look for the fairy tale icon that looks like two chat bubbles along with the name Rufus.
