Amazon has just made its new AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, available to all users in the United States through the Amazon Shopping app. This chatbot, introduced earlier this year and previously in a trial phase for a select few, aims to help customers of the giant marketplace make faster and more informed purchases.
This AI has been trained with a comprehensive database that includes product descriptions from the marketplace, customer reviews, and community questions and answers from Amazon. This allows it to provide complete answers to users’ questions.
To start using Rufus, users in the United States only need to ensure they have the most updated version of Amazon Shopping and navigate to the sparkle button located in the app’s bottom menu.
Once this option is selected, a chat will appear where users can interact with Rufus to get answers, recommendations, order information, and more.
Rufus will respond to specific queries about products and product details based on the useful information collected in its database. Additionally, the chatbot will also suggest related questions that users can click on to get more details about an item.
Users can also select the “What do customers say?” option to get a summary of the product reviews.
Another capability of this AI is recommending products based on specific qualities or contexts. For instance, users can ask for recommendations for pool umbrellas in Florida, and Rufus will provide information about the climate, humidity, and suggested features for umbrellas in Florida.
Other possibilities include asking the assistant for recommendations on the best family board games or the best outdoor wireless speakers.
Amazon’s assistant can also quickly compare product features to indicate the most suitable option for the consumer. For example, if a beginner runner is unsure whether to buy trail running shoes or regular running shoes, Rufus will outline the characteristics of both options and make a recommendation, offering shoe options for purchase.
It is also possible to directly ask about the differences between two types of products, such as a gas oven and a wood-fired oven, both for pizzas.
Understanding that people love staying up-to-date with the latest trends, Amazon has also enabled Rufus to answer questions about these matters. The chatbot can inform users about the most advanced model of a smartphone brand or highlight the latest summer dress trends.
While Rufus is an ideal assistant for making purchases, it is also very useful post-purchase, allowing easy tracking of packages.
Additionally, the assistant provides quick access to information about past orders, enabling users to ask about the last time a specific product was purchased to help make buying decisions or plan when to reorder it.
Finally, Rufus can also answer more general questions not strictly tied to shopping (though it will still offer product recommendations). If a user needs to know what is needed to cook a soufflé, the chatbot will provide the necessary instructions and share helpful items for the cooking process.
As a curiosity, the name Rufus was not chosen randomly by Amazon. According to the giant marketplace, it is a tribute to a beloved company member: a small Welsh corgi.
El Rufus original era la mascota de Eric, uno de los primeros ingenieros de software de la empresa, y Susan, la primera editora ejecutiva. Allá por 1996, a este simpático corgui le encantaba pasearse por un almacén de suministros de limpieza de la compañía en Seattle y relacionarse con los demás trabajadores. Todo ello con el permiso de Jeff Bezos, quién, en vistas de lo bueno y simpático que era el pequeño corgui, concedió a Eric y Susan llevarlo al trabajo para poder conciliar mejor sus cuidados.
The original Rufus was the pet of Eric, one of the company’s first software engineers, and Susan, the first executive editor. Back in 1996, this friendly corgi loved wandering through a company cleaning supply warehouse in Seattle and interacting with other employees. With Jeff Bezos’ permission, Eric and Susan brought Rufus to work to better manage his care.
Rufus passed away in 2009, but his memory not only lives on in this new AI but has also influenced the company’s dog-friendly policy and even given his name to a company office in Seattle.
Foto: Amazon
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