Amazon AI now generates fake product images as you search, sparking controversy over utility

Amazon will show AI product images when you search for some reason

In what may be one of the more questionable uses of AI to date, Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will display AI-generated images of products within its shopping app based on users' search queries. That's right -- a retailer where people shop for real-world products thinks that displaying fake photos will "help" consumers better find what they're looking for. Enough already. Here's how Amazon says in a blog post that the feature will work. Customers may have something in mind but don't know the right term to describe it in a way that returns useful results. (The examples Amazon gives are things like "cowl neck" for a style of shirts or "rattan" for furniture.) When someone enters a search query, they'll be shown a variety of AI-generated product images below their autocomplete suggestions. (See above photo.) For instance, if you search for a blue gingham dress, you might see a few dress styles -- short or long sleeves, varying lengths, and other differences -- appear as visual options. The idea is that clicking one would direct you to search results that better match that style, powered by Amazon's visual search capabilities. In reality, it's somewhat bananas for a retailer to make up fake products as a way of guiding users to search results. For starters, it's potentially misleading -- customers who don't read carefully may think they're being directed to a page where they could find that exact dress, then be disappointed when it isn't available. And there's the fairly obvious question of why you'd make up product images when you have a website full of real photographs of real products -- which is presumably what an online shopper actually wants to see. The feature follows a number of other attempts by Amazon to integrate AI into its retail site and shopping app, with mixed results. On the more useful end, Amazon already summarizes customer reviews via AI, so you don't have to read them all to get a sense of the key pros and cons of a product. More bizarrely, it last year rolled out a short audio product summary feature in which AI experts describe a product's highlights, podcast-style. Other recent AI features include AI-generated "shoppable collages" to direct people to curated pages devoted to a particular fashion style; Amazon Lens Live, which scans products in a camera's view to find visual matches; the ability to add text to visual searches; and a Lock Screen visual search widget for iOS. Earlier this month, Amazon also replaced its Rufus AI chatbot with Alexa for Shopping to enable natural language shopping queries via voice and text.

Amazon's search bar will invent AI-generated products you can't buy

Amazon's updated search bar will now show you AI-generated images of products as you describe them. For now, the in-app feature only surfaces AI images of clothing and home goods, allowing you to tap on the image that best matches what you're looking for and search for similar-looking items. In a blog post, Amazon positions the feature as a way to help you search for items if you can't remember the name of a specific texture or style, like describing a "shirt with a draped collar" if you can't think of "cowl neck." The feature seems like it might come in handy in these kinds of scenarios, but it doesn't really add much if you're just searching for something simple, like a "blue t-shirt." Google launched a similar feature in AI Mode last year, which generates images of fake outfits and decorations to help you find real-life lookalike products. Meanwhile, online retailers are teaming up with Gemini and ChatGPT as AI becomes even more embedded in shopping. Amazon isn't using AI to generate fake products for its other "shop by style" feature, though. This feature will show AI-generated collages with the clothing item you're searching for. If you're looking for denim shorts, for example, Amazon will show a carousel of suggested outfits with denim shorts. Though the outfits are AI-generated, the clothing in them isn't, which means you can purchase the pictured items. These features are coming to Amazon's app on Android and iOS.

Amazon's new AI search shows fake products first, then tries to sell you the real thing

Once you select the AI image closest to what you're looking for, the app will pull up similar real-world products. Using AI to generate pictures is a whole lot of fun. And it can also be very useful when you're trying to visualize new ideas in order to more easily share them. But does it sound like a great fit for shopping? Amazon sure seems to think so, and is introducing a new AI-powered visualization tool for search in its Amazon Shopping app. Today Amazon's announcing a whole bunch of visual-first upgrades for Shopping, including improvements to Lens Live, like the ability to add text to pictures you snap with your camera for better search results. That's also getting its own version of Circle to Search, allowing you to highlight specific parts of photos for the app's attention. But the one everybody's talking about -- and easily the most controversial one here -- is the addition of real-time AI-generated product images for searches. In a certain light, what Amazon's trying here makes a lot of sense: The company frames this tool as ideal for users who might be able to picture the product they want to buy, but don't know exactly the right term for it. Instead, they can try a more descriptive approach, and Amazon will show some AI-generated suggestions of what they could be looking for. As you continue to add text, the app will refine those guesses. The idea is that once you see one that's pretty much just what you had in mind, you can tap on it, and Amazon Shopping will then present you with a list of real-world products that are similar. As you can see in the demo above, this is getting started with clothing and home products -- considering the incredibly ambitious scope of this effort, it makes a lot of sense to start with a more targeted approach like this. While there is a way to think about this tool that seems perfectly logical, we also can't ignore that AI-wary voice in our head that's just screaming its reaction to the news: Why would you want to see pictures of products that don't exist when you're shopping for something you want to actually buy? That doesn't necessarily detract from the utility of a feature like this, but it also sounds like it's introducing the possibility for users to end up feeling unnecessarily frustrated. What happens if you fall in love with one of those AI previews, but the actual garments available for sale just don't quite live to up it? Perhaps this is a lot of premature nay-saying, and we should wait to hear some feedback from actual users about their experiences. In fact, you can help us out with that! Fire up Amazon Shopping on your Android or iPhone device, try searching for a general description of some clothing you're looking for, and let us know how the experience went for you. Were you satisfied by the AI previews, or is this one place where AI just doesn't make a lot of sense?

Amazon's Rolling Out Another AI Feature So You'll Buy Even More Stuff

For better or worse, AI is becoming less and less avoidable across the internet. Google's search engine responds to queries with AI-generated summaries, AI-generated images and videos have flooded social media platforms, and online retail giants have wholeheartedly embraced AI in the hopes of creating a more personalized and "frictionless" user experience. Now, Amazon is offering its latest attempt in a growing roster of AI-powered features designed to help you buy products from the retailer: a new tool that uses generative AI to create images of products based on vague descriptions. Available now to U.S. customers through the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android, the feature is intended (like most other AI shopping features) to make it easier for shoppers to find products online -- and thereby shorten the span of time between the impulse to buy something popping into their brains and the moment they finalize a purchase. According to the company's announcement, the new tool is useful when you don't know or can't remember the name of a particular product, but can roughly visualize it in your mind's eye. If you're looking, say, for a durable rug made of natural fibers but can't remember the word "sisal," you can enter the description into Amazon's product search bar, and AI will generate images that roughly match what you're looking for. The generated images aren't of actual products sold by Amazon, but clicking one of them will lead you to similar products that are for sale. "Now, as customers search for products using descriptive language -- like color, texture, or pattern -- AI-generated images instantly take shape in the suggestions below the search bar, shifting and refining with each word added. The feature works best where visual details matter most, and customers can experience it today when searching for items in apparel and home, with more categories available over time." Amazon also launched a new "shop by style" feature, which suggests outfits via AI-generated collages when shoppers search for a single article of clothing. Searching for a "women's silk shirt," for example, could yield a recommendation for whole outfits labeled "executive chic" and "urban luxe." The new AI tool is just one of many that Amazon has been steadily peppering into the various touchpoints of the online shopping process. You can ask questions about particular products to Rufus, the company's AI chatbot. Through the Lens Live tool in the Amazon Shopping app, you can point your phone's camera at a product you spot in the real world to instantly receive recommendations for similar products. And another "Help Me Decide" feature analyzes your shopping history to feed you recommendations of what to buy next.

Amazon now generates images of fake products in one of the dumbest uses of AI yet [Video]

AI can be useful in a lot of places, but there are many scenarios where it doesn't make sense. Amazon, having been stuffing its app full of AI lately, is now going to use AI to generate images of fake products as you type in search terms. Available starting today, the Amazon app will generate images of products as you type words into the search bar. With the example of clothing, Amazon shows the AI bar generating a product that matches the user's description, though the product pictured doesn't actually exist. Instead, that image is meant to be used to "find products that look like these AI images." Amazon explains that this is meant to bridge the gap between "imagination" and "product discovery." Amazon's newest AI-powered search experience bridges imagination with product discovery in the search bar in the Amazon Shopping app. A customer may want a shirt with a draped collar but can't think of the term "cowl neck," or a couch with woven side panels but doesn't know the word "rattan." Now, as customers search for products using descriptive language -- like color, texture, or pattern -- AI-generated images instantly take shape in the suggestions below the search bar, shifting and refining with each word added. Customers can tap the generated image that best aligns with their vision and shop for visually similar products. The feature works best where visual details matter most, and customers can experience it today when searching for items in apparel and home, with more categories available over time. Beyond that, Amazon is rolling out several other AI updates to its app, including "AI-generated shoppable collages" to help customers "Shop by style," enabling users to add text to image searches, and adding a "more like this" shortcut for visually-similar products. "Amazon Lens Live" can interact with the real world and answer questions, while Lens will also be getting a homescreen shortcut and "circle to search." 9to5Google's Take Where to begin... On top of being wildly wasteful in terms of the use of AI resources, the idea of generating fake product images while searching just seems remarkably dumb. People go to Amazon to buy actual, physical products, so having an AI take your search and create things that do not exist makes no sense whatsoever. Using AI to parse through the millions of actual product images on Amazon and show those during a search, that's another matter, but creating fake products out of thin air is just baffling, and sure to confuse customers who suddenly cannot find a product that matches what Amazon just showed them in search. Amazon's pitch of being able to bridge the gap between what a user is looking for and what actually exists is a good idea, but not if the app is just going to generate whatever the user says.

Amazon's latest visual search update brings Lens Live and Circle to Search feature to your app

Amazon just launched eight new visual search features and they are all live now. Amazon just rolled out its most significant visual search update with a bunch of new features across its shopping app, covering everything from how you search to how you browse results. Every new visual search feature Amazon just added to its shopping app The search bar on Amazon app now generates AI product images in real time as you type, giving you a visual shorthand for products you cannot quite describe in words. Recommended Videos Amazon Lens has also arrived on the iPhone lock screen with a dedicated widget, letting you search for anything you spot in the real world without opening the app. Lens Live is a new AI-powered camera experience that instantly scans whatever your camera is pointed at and surfaces matching products in a swipeable carousel at the bottom of the screen. Visual Suggestions shows descriptive image filters below the search bar as you type a broad term like "flannel shirt," letting you tap the closest match to instantly narrow your search results. Circle to Search lets you upload any photo to Amazon Lens and draw a circle around a specific item to find it directly, and resize, reposition, or shift focus to a different item entirely. Product videos now appear inside search results for home items, appliances, toys, and electronics, so you can watch before you click without ever leaving the results page. The More Like This button lets you tap any product image in search results to instantly surface similar items, useful when you love the look of something but want a different color, length, or style. To round things out, you can now add descriptive text to any image you upload to Amazon Lens, specifying details like brand, material, or dimensions to further narrow down results. Why this update matters Visual searches on Amazon have grown 70% year over year, and these new features are Amazon's way of saying that typing keywords into a search bar is so last decade. Whether you are circling items in photos, watching product videos without clicking through, or letting AI fill in the visual blanks, Amazon is betting that showing is faster than telling. With Prime Day going live from June 23 to 26, you are going to have plenty of chances to put all of this to the test.

Amazon's search bar now generates AI product images while you type your query

Amazon's new AI search feature generates fake product images to point you toward real ones Amazon has a new trick up its sleeve, and it is a weird one. When you type a visual description into the Amazon app, like "flannel shirt" or "blue and white gingham dress," the search bar now generates AI images of products in real time as you type. These images are not real products you can actually buy. They are entirely made up, existing purely as visual suggestions to help you find products that look similar. Whether that sounds useful or baffling to you probably depends on how much patience you have for AI features that solve problems you did not know you had. Why Amazon thinks fake AI product images can help you shop better Amazon's argument is that shoppers sometimes struggle to put what they want into words. You might want a shirt with a draped neckline, but have no idea it is called a 'cowl neck.' The AI images are meant to bridge that gap, letting you tap the closest match and browse real products that look similar. The feature currently only works for clothing and home goods and is available on Android and iOS. Amazon also has a separate Shop by Style feature that shows AI-generated outfit collages where the actual clothing items are real and purchasable. Tapping a collage takes you to a curated page where you can shop individual pieces, explore similar products, or swipe between styles. That frankly sounds more useful than staring at a made-up dress. Amazon has been quietly stuffing AI into every corner of your shopping experience The company launched Alexa for Shopping, a conversational AI assistant designed to help you make buying decisions, and lets you have real conversations with AI while browsing products. Recommended Videos Amazon also experimented with turning product pages into podcasts, which did not exactly go down well. With Prime Day arriving June 23 to 26, earlier than usual this year, Amazon clearly wants all of these tools working before its biggest shopping event.

Amazon adds AI-generated product previews to search results

Amazon announced it will display AI-generated images of products in its shopping app based on users' search queries. The feature aims to assist customers who know what they want but struggle to accurately describe it using specific terms, according to a blog post from the company. When users enter a search query, they will see a variety of AI-generated product images below their autocomplete suggestions. For example, searching for a blue gingham dress may show various styles with different sleeve types and lengths. Clicking on an AI-generated image will direct users to search results that better match the displayed style, leveraging Amazon's visual search capabilities. Video: Amazon Critics have raised concerns about the potential misleading nature of the feature. There is a risk that customers may believe they are being directed to exact products, only to find that those items are unavailable. Amazon has previously integrated several AI features into its shopping experience, with mixed results. These include summarizing customer reviews, introducing audio product summaries, and creating AI-generated "shoppable collages." Earlier in October, Amazon replaced its Rufus AI chatbot with Alexa for Shopping, allowing users to conduct shopping queries through natural language via voice and text. Other recent initiatives include Amazon Lens Live, which scans products to find visual matches, and a Lock Screen visual search widget for iOS. The company's strategy appears focused on enhancing user experience through AI, although the effectiveness and acceptance of these initiatives remain to be fully evaluated.

Amazon Wants You to Use Its New AI Tools to Shop With Photos, Not Keywords

* Amazon launched eight new AI-powered visual search tools * Shop by Style generates AI-curated shopping collages * iOS users get a new Amazon Lens home screen widget Amazon on Thursday announced a suite of new AI-powered features for visual search. With the introduction of eight new tools, the e-commerce giant aims to make product discovery easier and more intuitive across its shopping platform. Amazon says the features leverage AI, image recognition, and camera-based search to help users search for products using natural language commands, images, and even real-world objects. The notable additions include AI-generated search previews, curated style recommendations, enhanced visual search through Amazon Lens, and a new lock-screen widget for iPhone users. Amazon Expands AI-Powered Visual Search Capabilities In a blog post, Amazon said that the new features are aimed at bridging the gap between what customers imagine and the products they ultimately discover on the platform. The new AI-powered search experience can generate images in real time as users type product descriptions into the Amazon Shopping app. Rather than relying on exact product terminologies, shoppers can simply describe attributes like colour, texture, or design. The feature will generate AI images that appear beneath the search bar. After this, they can then tap the image that best matches what they have in mind to browse similar products. The e-commerce giant says AI-powered search currently supports apparel and home categories. Amazon is also introducing "Shop by Style", which can display AI-generated shoppable collages in search results. It is claimed to deliver curated collections for apparel and accessories and organises them around themes like "Urban Luxe" or "Soft Elegance". The company has also upgraded Amazon Lens with a new 'Lens Live' feature. As the name suggests, it can analyse products seen through the phone's viewfinder and display matching items in an interactive carousel in real time. Amazon says customers can use this feature to compare products, add them to their wishlist or cart without leaving the interface. Lens Live also features Alexa integration, enabling users to ask contextual questions about products. Other notable search refinement tools include Visual Suggestions, which can provide image-based filters for broad searches. Users can also add text prompts to uploaded images in Amazon Lens. The Amazon app for iOS also has a new Amazon Lens widget for the home screen. The company claims it provides one-tap access to camera-based product searches. The "More Like This" functionality has also been expanded to allow users to quickly find visually similar products from search results. Lastly, there is Circle to Search as well. The visual lookup tool allows shoppers to highlight a specific object within an uploaded image and search for it independently. The new visual search capabilities are currently rolling out to customers in the US through the Amazon Shopping app on Android and iOS.