Amazon is expanding the availability of its AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, to more markets in Europe and the Americas, as it seeks to catch up with big tech companies in the AI space. Rufus is one way Amazon is showing it’s up for the game. Key features the tool offers include product search support, product comparisons and recommendations on what to buy.
The Amazon AI chatbot is trained to include customer reviews, product catalogs, and other general collateral data, ready to answer shoppers’ questions.
To take advantage of Rufus, shoppers in new markets need to update their Amazon app to the latest version; tap a small icon in the bottom right that shows up a chatbot-style interface.
IMAGE CREDIT, AMAZON
Amazon first tested Rufus in the US in February, before officially launching it five months later. A beta version of the smart assistant has also arrived in India and the UK. On Tuesday, Amazon expanded the beta to Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Amazon said that this is still an early version of Rufus, and like many AI applications, it will not always achieve the desired results.