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“I think it’s exciting, what’s possible with generative AI,” Amazon.com’s CEO Andy Jassy said in a recent interview with Financial Times. “And it’s part of what you’re seeing with models like ChatGPT. But most large, deeply technical companies like ours, have been working on these very large, generative AI models themselves for a long time.”
Amazon is believed to be behind the “generative” AI race between Microsoft and Google, which hosted media events in early February highlighting their generative AI technology.
The AI-driven technology promises to understand and respond to natural language inputs with context. According to Investor's Business Daily, Bank of America analyst Justin Post wrote in a note, "Use of AI will be a critical driver of all things Internet, including content relevance, ad performance, e-commerce conversion, marketplace efficiency and even customer service."
ModernRetail said brands and retailers are looking to partner with ChatGPT-tech providers, with only a few larger, tech-driven corporations like Amazon, Shopify, JD.com and Alibaba seeking to develop similar tools themselves. Reuters wrote, "An exchange with AI known as a large language model likely costs ten times more than a standard keyword search."
In the near term, experts see promising use cases for retailers that will incorporate generative AI into customer service chatbots, enabling faster, more relevant assistance.
Search is another likely focus, with many brands already significantly investing in AI-driven personalized product recommendations for years.
A study from Nostro found 69 percent of consumers head for the search bar first when visiting online retailers, but search falls well short of customer hopes in delivering personalized recommendations and relevant content.
“Generative AI holds significant promise for retailers,” wrote eMarketer in a report. “Not only can it power a better customer experience, but it could eventually become a more sophisticated form of predictive analytics, giving companies actionable insights into everything from the best locations for new stores to where to target investment. However, its applications in the short term will be limited as companies work out how to implement generative AI without risking customer ire or giving away too much information on the inner workings of their businesses.”
- Can this man turn Amazon around? – Financial Times
- Why retailers and platforms are rushing to incorporate AI and ChatGPT into online shopping – ModernRetail
- Artificial Intelligence Stocks To Watch: Big Tech Expands AI Products, Services – Investor’s Business Daily
- For tech giants, AI like Bing and Bard poses billion-dollar search problem – Reuters
- Brand New Research: The Future of Ecommerce Search in 2023 – Nostro
- On-Site Search Failing Because Retailers Still Lack Advanced Resources – MediaPost
- Retailers see promise in Chat-GPT and generative AI – Insider Intelligence/eMarketer
- Will ChatGPT reinvent search? – RetailWire