Amazon is currently experimenting with a new AI functionality within its app, allowing customers to pose specific inquiries regarding products. This AI tool is capable of determining precise measurements, estimating battery life, and even crafting a festive Christmas carol centered around snow boots.
While primarily designed for practical purposes, the tool appears to entertain more whimsical questions as well, akin to the queries directed at AI chatbots for amusement.
Accessible through the questions box on the product page, this feature is currently available to a select group of users. Some Verge employees have reported encountering it on their apps and discovered its responsiveness to imaginative prompts. For instance, it can generate jokes about flash card readers, narrate bedtime stories involving hard drives, and even portray snow boots in a flirtatious manner.
Does this joke make you want to buy the item more?
However, the AI tool refrains from engaging in flirtatious interactions. When prompted to flirt, it promptly replied, “I apologize but I do not have personal feelings or engage in flirtatious behavior.”
According to Amazon’s statement to CNBC, the feature is still undergoing testing. It is emphasized that the AI tool is limited to product-related discussions and cannot engage in unrelated conversations. This was evident when an attempt to request a hummus recipe while browsing snow boots yielded a response indicating the unavailability of a generative AI answer. The tool may speculate on whether Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, would wear the boots, but solely within the context of the product.
Amazon’s Advancements in AI Features
Amazon has recently introduced various AI capabilities on its e-commerce platform. These include the use of advanced language models to summarize product reviews, identify fraudulent reviews, and provide clothing size recommendations to shoppers.
The company’s endeavors in generative AI extend beyond its retail sector, particularly through its cloud computing division, AWS. In November, AWS unveiled the Titan Image Generator, enabling businesses to create images based on text prompts. Additionally, enterprise clients can access prominent foundational AI models such as Meta’s Llama 2, Anthropic’s Claude, and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion.
