If there is one technological advance that our bank accounts did not require in 2024, it is an Amazon chatbot with limitless awareness of the site’s possible impulse purchases. Unfortunately for our savings, Rufus is exactly what we have just received.
Amazon claims its Rufus chatbot has now launched in beta form in the US to “a small subset of customers” who use its mobile app, but that it will “progressively roll out to additional US customers in the coming weeks”. Rufus is allegedly “an expert shopping assistant” who has been schooled on Amazon’s product catalog and will respond to your questions in a conversational manner.
Rather than Googling for further information on the distinctions between trail and road running shoes, the concept is that you can rather search for instructions on the Amazon app and Rufus will pop up with the answers.
It remains to be seen how good those answers are, as Amazon claims they originate from “a combination of extensive product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As, and information from across the web”. Given the fluctuating quality of Amazon reviews and the tendency of AI chatbots to hallucinate, you may wish to supplement your study with some additional sources.
Still, it’s an early view into the future of buying, with shops attempting to provide you with all of the information you require so that you may, well, spend more money with them. According to Amazon, the inquiries can range from “What are good gifts for Valentine’s Day?” to “Is this cordless drill easy to hold?” if you’re on a product page.
How to Find and Use Rufus
Rufus is now only available to “selected customers when they next update their Amazon Shopping app”. However, if you live in the United States and want to try it out, you should update your iOS or Android app to see if you’re among the first to be chosen.
If you are, the top bar of the app should now read “search or ask a question”. That’s where you can ask Rufus questions like “what to consider when buying headphones?” or give him prompts like “best dinosaur toys for a 5-year-old” or “I want to start an indoor garden”.
The option to ask specific questions about products on their product pages appears useful, however this will essentially be a summary of the page’s Q&As and reviews. Given our previous experience with AI purchasing chatbots, we would be hesitant to accept things at face value without double-checking with another source.
Still, Rufus’s wider US release in “the coming weeks” is a significant upgrade to the Amazon app, and it has the potential to transform how we purchase with the retail giant. Amazon will undoubtedly hope it persuades us to spend more; perhaps we need two chatbots, one alerting us about our overdraft.
