Amazon on Thursday launched a new productive AI shopping assistant, Rufus. The chatbot is trained on Amazon’s product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and information from across the web. It’s only available to a limited number of Amazon customers for now, but it’s expanding in the coming weeks.
Rufus answers many product-related questions
The company sees the assistant as a one-stop shop for all of customers’ shopping needs. Rufus, “What should be considered when buying running shoes?” It can answer questions such as. Also, “Are these durable?” It can also answer follow-up questions such as:
Amazon recommends asking Rufus for general advice on product categories, such as what to consider when shopping for headphones. It can also provide contextual recommendations, providing insight into products based on specific activities or events. Other examples include being asked to compare product categories. She can also recommend gifts for people with special tastes or make holiday shopping suggestions.