Amazon is introducing an AI-powered feature called Interests to help customers discover products on its marketplace.
Here's how it works:
- Shoppers enter a conversational description of what they're looking to buy.
- They can either enter a specific type of item like “lawn chairs” or a broad category such as “computer accessories.”
- They can also input their pricing preferences such as “cheap” or “under $100.”
- From there, Interests generates an alert whenever products that meet the provided criteria become available on Amazon.
- The feature detects both new product launches as well as when an out-of-stock item returns to the marketplace.
- Amazon says the feature can also help customers track deals.
That sounds like it can get it could get overwhelming very quickly!
“Hey Paul, there's a new webcam on Amazon! Hey Paul, there's a new trackball on Amazon! Hey Paul, there's a new…” SHUTUP AMAZON! Silence notifications! (Oh wait, I already did that years ago…) I'll give Amazon the benefit of the doubt and assume that it works a lot better than that, although I haven't been able to test it personally.
Interests is currently available to a small subset of US customers via Amazon's Android and iOS apps, with plans to roll out to the rest of the US in the coming months.
Alongside the launch of Interests, Amazon also debuted a new service called Health AI that can answer health and wellness related questions and recommend relevant products. Responses sometimes include a badge that says the information was “reviewed by US-based licensed clinicians.”
Lastly, Amazon updated its Amazon Photos app to allow users to search their photo library to find similar products on Amazon Marketplace. Panos Panay, senior VP of Amazon's Devices and Services, posted on X, “Spot something you loved at a friend's house or a toy your kid was obsessed with? Just search your photos and we'll resurface relevant items for you.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said last month that employees have built or are in the process of building around 1,000 gen-AI applications across the company, so we'll likely be reading more news like this in the near future.