Concerns arise over Amazon’s AI assistant, Rufus, and its behavior،
Now that Rufus, Amazon's new AI shopping assistant, is officially rolled out, concerns are arising about its behavior, according to a new report from Reuters States.
Rufus' goal is, in addition to making a lot of money for Amazon, to help and guide Amazon users in their shopping experience.
The AI bot, according to Amazon, was trained on its product catalog, customer reviews, community questions and answers, and information from around the web. That's great, but Rufus' greatest power is that Amazon has an edge over its AI rivals against Google and Microsoft by having a juicy stockpile of purchases and personalized data from countless Amazon users.
Rufus, now in beta (but available to the general public in the coming weeks), was designed to answer specific questions, provide comparisons, recommend and guide customers toward a successful transaction conclusion.
The Reuters report, however, reminds us that “Amazon has a habit of directing its customers to products that benefit Amazon the most, either because they are more profitable or because they are backed by advertising dollars “. In other words, can we trust Rufus to make purchasing decisions for us and will those decisions be best for us…or best for the retail giant?
Besides sharing information that Rufus was trained on Amazon's catalog, reviews, and community Q&As, the algorithm behind the bot is a secret that Amazon has refused to discuss.
Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said Amazon would withhold money if it didn't link Rufus results to advertisers and their products: “You'll most likely get sponsored results.” Advertising drives retail and Amazon is no different. Why do you think they generate tens of billions of dollars in advertising per year? »
According to the article, Amazon is fighting an antitrust lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission that alleges the Seattle company operates a “pay-to-play” system, prioritizing products that marketers are willing to spend on. most. The agency says Amazon often places its own brands at the top of search results, even when other products may be of better quality or price. The company denied the allegations and said it would fight the complaint in court.
