Amazon has been applying artificial intelligence to the purchasing process on its platform for years, from suggestions based on history to an assistant to help make more informed decisions. Now add a layer of entertainment with a new AI-generated audio feature to synthesize product information and reviews for easy purchasing.
Called “Hear the highlights”, these are brief audio summaries on product detail pages. They are presented in podcast format, with two “presenters” whose voices have been created with artificial intelligence and who embark on a dialogue about the key features of each item. Amazon’s intention is to help consumers save time by collecting information about item highlights from product pages, reviews, and statistics.
“These experts have done the research for you, analyzing product details, customer reviews and information from around the web, then bringing product details to life and letting customers hear the highlights.“; they explain from the company. “This feature makes product research fun and convenient; It’s like having friends who help you make purchasing decisions and make it easier for you, even if you’re multitasking or on the go.”.
At the moment the functionality has been activated for selected products in the United States, although Amazon plans to expand the reach of the new tool in that market in the coming months. Users can listen to the audio summaries by tapping the “Listen to Highlights” button in the Amazon Shopping app, below the product image.
The first tests Amazon is conducting focus on products that generally require consideration before purchasing. Among the examples presented by the multinational itself are an algae body oil from the Osea brand, a children’s toy, a mattress protector, wireless sports headphones from the Shokz brand, or a Ninja brand blender.
However, the functionality is available in other items in the marketplace, as users have shared through social networks. In the audio summary of the Welmedix HomeCare Pro cream, the two AI “presenters” discuss the ingredients of the product, its application and its benefits.
As Amazon details in a statement, the new tool uses large-scale language models (LLM) to generate scripts, extracting information from Amazon’s product catalog, customer reviews and information from around the web, and then translates the content into short audio clips.
Users can also use the “Join Chat” option, a new interactive feature that allows you to ask AI “presenters” questions via text or voice while listening to an audio summary of a product. According to the company, the “presenters” take the question, answer it in real time and pick up the conversation right where they left off.
To do this, they must press the raised hand icon to see the full screen and then type their question or use the microphone icon to ask by voice. The player can be minimized at any time and continue listening while browsing Amazon.
“Hear the highlights” joins the range of functionalities based on artificial intelligence that Amazon offers consumers to “make shopping faster, easier and more fun.” Among them is Rufus, the purchasing assistant; Review Summary, which creates an AI-powered summary of common themes in reviews; o Buy for Me, a new feature in beta that, using AI, allows you to complete purchases on other brands’ websites if Amazon does not sell the item directly.
