Apple Store app prepares AI shopping assistant as privacy policy reveals new chatbot feature

Apple Store app may soon get an AI-powered shopping assistant

Apple has updated the Apple Store app's privacy policy, adding terms regarding a yet-to-be-released virtual shopping assistant. Here are the details. Apple expands AI use in retail As spotted by MacRumors, the Apple Store App & Privacy page now features a segment called Virtual Shopping Assistant, which says: Where the Apple Store app virtual shopping assistant is available, Apple collects and stores your account information, device identifiers, carrier information, chat information, and where enabled, location data to personalize the chat experience, provide relevant responses, and if you opt in, to improve the virtual shopping assistant. Before sharing the chat with our partners, Apple scrubs personal identifiers from it. These partners will use this information only to help Apple to provide a conversational response. Apple will save these transcripts to make them available when you return to the Apple Store app, for our business analytics, and if you opt in, to improve the virtual shopping assistant. You can control whether your use of the virtual shopping assistant will be used to improve the experience by going to Account > Settings and tapping Chat Improvements within the Apple Store app. If you have questions about how your personal data is used as it relates to the virtual shopping assistant, or you would like to reach our Data Protection Officer, you can contact us at www.apple.com/legal/privacy/contact. In other words, the Apple Store app may soon get a chatbot that will leverage user data to personalize its responses and help with purchase decisions. Apple says it will remove personal identifiers before sharing chat content with unnamed partners that provide the assistant's responses, which likely indicates that a third-party model from an outside company will power at least part of the experience. Chat transcripts will remain available in the app for users to revisit and will also be retained for Apple's business analytics. Users can separately opt in to allowing their conversations to be used to improve the virtual shopping assistant through a new Chat Improvements setting. The wording in Apple's privacy policy suggests that the virtual assistant will initially be available only in select countries and regions, potentially starting in English-speaking markets, before expanding to additional languages and locations. Today's news comes a few months after Apple added an AI-powered chatbot to its Sales Coach app, which provides sales and technical resources to the company's retail partners. Accessible through an "Ask" tab, the chatbot answers questions using Apple's official training materials and documentation. It also comes after Bloomberg reported that Apple is testing a "Live Notes" system at select retail stores, using AI to record, transcribe, and summarize Genius Bar sessions so employees can focus on assisting customers rather than taking notes. To learn more about the Apple Store App & Privacy, follow this link. Do you think a chatbot in the Apple Store app will be useful? Let us know in the comments. Worth checking out on Amazon

Apple Store App Getting AI Shopping Assistant

Apple's privacy policy for the Apple Store app suggests it will soon get a virtual shopping assistant to help users decide what to purchase. The app will have a chat interface where users can ask questions about Apple products, with Apple using data like account information, device identifiers, chat information, carrier information, and location data to offer a personalized experience. Transcripts of chats are saved for later reference. Apple says that information is sent to its "partners" to help Apple provide a conversational response, which suggests Apple might be using a third-party AI model for the virtual assistant. Where the Apple Store app virtual shopping assistant is available, Apple collects and stores your account information, device identifiers, carrier information, chat information, and where enabled, location data to personalize the chat experience, provide relevant responses, and if you opt in, to improve the virtual shopping assistant. Before sharing the chat with our partners, Apple scrubs personal identifiers from it. These partners will use this information only to help Apple to provide a conversational response. Apple will save these transcripts to make them available when you return to the Apple Store app, for our business analytics, and if you opt in, to improve the virtual shopping assistant. The virtual shopping assistant interface is not live in the Apple Store app yet, though it is possible Apple is testing the feature with some users. Apple also added a virtual assistant to its Apple Support app, but that feature still hasn't rolled out to everyone.

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The privacy policy for the Apple Store app suggests that a new feature called Virtual Shopping Assistant could be implemented soon. It may function similarly to the Apple Support Assistant. Apple has been slowly increasing its use of AI tools both internally and in public-facing apps. While Apple still relies on humans for some support inquiries, AI is being offered in more locations. It seems Apple may have let slip that a new feature is coming to the Apple Store app. The Virtual Shopping Assistant feature is called out in the Apple Store app privacy policy, which was first spotted by MacRumors. It mentions the Virtual Shopping Assistant, what data it collects, and a specific setting toggle that doesn't yet exist within the Apple Store app. The Apple Store app was updated on July 22, but there is no sign of this new AI chat tool. Here is what the privacy policy says about the Virtual Shopping Assistant: Where the Apple Store app virtual shopping assistant is available, Apple collects and stores your account information, device identifiers, carrier information, chat information, and where enabled, location data to personalize the chat experience, provide relevant responses, and if you opt in, to improve the virtual shopping assistant. Before sharing the chat with our partners, Apple scrubs personal identifiers from it. These partners will use this information only to help Apple to provide a conversational response. Apple will save these transcripts to make them available when you return to the Apple Store app, for our business analytics, and if you opt in, to improve the virtual shopping assistant. You can control whether your use of the virtual shopping assistant will be used to improve the experience by going to Account > Settings and tapping Chat Improvements within the Apple Store app. The "partners" could be referring to a third-party AI tool that is parsing user requests. It isn't clear why Apple wouldn't just use Apple Foundation Models for this system, though it could be a part of some other partnership. A similar feature is available in the Apple Support app. It has an "Ask" tab where users can ask questions about their device, though it is very specific and draws from Apple documentation. It isn't clear exactly how Apple's Virtual Shopping Assistant might help users. The included data is rather generic, so the tool is likely going to function little better than the existing search option. At the least, given your current device list, the Virtual Shopping Assistant might help you find compatible accessories. Or, it may help users decide on device upgrades and configurations through the chat mechanism.