Amazon to Display AI-Generated Product Images in Search Results

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In a move that raises questions about the use of artificial intelligence in online retail, Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will display AI-generated images of products within its shopping app based on users' search queries. The feature aims to help consumers find what they're looking for by providing visual options when they enter a search query. The e-commerce giant says that customers often have a product in mind but struggle to describe it in a way that yields useful results.

For instance, they might search for a style of shirt, such as "cowl neck," or a type of furniture, like "rattan." When this happens, Amazon will display a variety of AI-generated product images below its autocomplete suggestions. For example, if a user searches for a blue gingham dress, they might see several dress styles with different sleeve lengths and other variations. The idea behind this feature is that clicking on one of these AI-generated images will direct users to search results that better match their desired product, powered by Amazon's visual search capabilities.

However, some may argue that creating fake product images to guide users to search results is a questionable use of AI. Critics might say that this feature could be misleading, as customers who don't read carefully may think they're being directed to a page where they can find the exact product they saw, only to be disappointed when it's not available. Moreover, it's unclear why Amazon would choose to display fake product images when it already has a vast collection of real photographs of actual products.

This latest move is part of Amazon's ongoing efforts to integrate AI into its retail site and shopping app. Some of these attempts have been more successful than others. For instance, Amazon's AI-powered customer review summaries have been helpful in giving customers a quick sense of a product's pros and cons.

On the other hand, its AI-generated audio product summaries, which feature AI experts describing a product's highlights in a podcast-style format, have been met with skepticism. Other recent AI features on Amazon include "shoppable collages" that direct users to curated pages devoted to specific fashion styles, Amazon Lens Live, which scans products in a camera's view to find visual matches, and the ability to add text to visual searches. Earlier this month, Amazon replaced its Rufus AI chatbot with Alexa for Shopping, enabling natural language shopping queries via voice and text.