Amazon Generative AI-Powered Shopping Assistant Available to US Users

Amazon has expanded its AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, making it available for all U.S. customers. 

First unveiled in February, Rufus is designed to be a conversation helper for shoppers, answering questions about products on the Amazon Shopping app.

Previously limited to a select group of customers, the chatbot is now available to U.S. shoppers.

Rufus can handle specific product questions and unearth information about related listings and reviews, as well as compare two different products.

For example, the chatbot can explain the difference between gas and wood-fired pizza ovens and provide insights from customers who previously purchased either type of oven.

Credit: Amazon

Rufus can also provide insights on the latest products and trends and handle questions related to expected or previous orders. It can also track packages.

The chatbot can be accessed through a dedicated button on the Amazon Shopping app in the bottom right-hand corner of the navigation bar. Tapping the button will open the Rufus chatbot, allowing customers to ask questions by typing or using their voice.

Amazon said the initial user base has asked Rufus tens of millions of questions.

“Since introducing Rufus, we’ve been thrilled to hear directly from customers how Rufus has helped them with broad-range and specific shopping questions, and everything in between,” according to a company announcement. 

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Rufus is Amazon’s latest expansion of its AI efforts.

The company is working to make its Alexa smart devices more conversational, using a new larger underlying language model to boost customer experiences across all its businesses.

Amazon hasn’t disclosed the underlying system powering Rufus, however, the chatbot has been trained on the company’s vast e-commerce product data, including details and questions and answers from other Amazon shoppers.

The chatbot can also answer a range of questions beyond shopping, such as, "What do I need for a summer party?” returning relevant items.

Users can rate a Rufus response with either a thumbs up or down. Amazon plans to continuously update and enhance the chatbot over time.

“While it’s still early days for both generative AI and Rufus, we’re excited to hear customers are using Rufus to help them make more informed shopping decisions,” according to a company announcement. “As we continue to grow and improve upon Rufus, we’re looking forward to seeing how customers continue to use it to find exactly what they need or want in our store.”

This story first appeared in IoT World Today's sister publication AI Business.

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