Amazon’s new AI shopping tool tells you why you should buy a recommended product

Amazon continues to integrate advanced AI features into its shopping platform, with the latest addition being a tool named "Help Me Decide." This innovative feature leverages your past searches, browsing habits, and purchase history to recommend products and explain why a specific item suits your needs. For instance, if you are in the market for a camping tent and have previously explored four-person sleeping bags, camping stoves, and purchased hiking boots, the tool will suggest a suitable all-season tent for your camping adventures. Initially, the recommendations will align with the price range you are currently exploring, but you can also opt for suggestions that are either less or more expensive. The "Help Me Decide" button appears after you've browsed several similar products and can be found under the "Keep Shopping for" section at the top of the homepage. Daniel Lloyd, Amazon's vice president of personalization, highlighted that this tool is designed to save shoppers time by providing tailored product recommendations based on their browsing patterns, thereby instilling confidence in their purchasing choices. To power this feature, Amazon is utilizing large language models in conjunction with its AWS generative AI application service, Bedrock, as well as its OpenSearch tool and SageMaker recommendation service. The feature will be accessible to users in the United States through the Amazon Shopping app on both iOS and Android, as well as on the web. Over the past year, Amazon has rolled out a variety of shopping tools aimed at increasing customer purchases. Last year, the company introduced an AI assistant named Rufus, which was designed to respond to product inquiries. In October 2024, Amazon expanded its offerings by launching AI-powered shopping guides across more than 100 categories. Additionally, this year, they began providing audio summaries for products and reviews. Recently, in September, they released Lens Live, enabling users to point their smartphone cameras at items in their surroundings and receive product recommendations from Amazon. Competing companies such as Google, OpenAI, and Perplexity are also investing in AI-driven shopping solutions to boost sales.