AI shopping assistants promise to research better, compare faster and even buy on our behalf. But when the assistant belongs to the retailer, whose interests shape the decision?

Season 3 Episode 43

Episode 43 – Who Is AI Shopping For?

22:10

• Steve Atkins Host

A laptop for a daughter starting university provides the starting point for Episode 43 of Innovating Trust. Steve Atkins explores how conversational AI can influence what shoppers believe they need, which products they consider and how much they are prepared to spend. A smooth-talking fictional shopping assistant helps demonstrate how easily a budget can become a sales target.

The episode examines examples from Amazon, Walmart and Target, alongside shopping tools from Google and ChatGPT. It distinguishes product advice from permission to purchase, with US examples of automatic buying and agent-assisted checkout, and considers why availability and payment requirements differ across markets.

With Black Friday and the holiday shopping season approaching, the discussion asks what shoppers should expect from an assistant entrusted with their money. How are products selected? Where does sponsored visibility enter the conversation? And would a trustworthy assistant ever recommend keeping what you already own?

The shopping assistant exchanges are dramatised with AI.

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