When shoppers start crossing off their lists this holiday season, experts say they’ll be encountering a lot more artificial intelligence in the process. Analysts say businesses are turning to AI tools to “assist” shoppers with tasks like comparing prices, finding gift ideas, and even purchasing them. “It’s very popular, it’s growing,” says retail analyst Bruce Winder. “It’s saving consumers time and money by using AI agents.” He says the digital tools make things easier for shoppers and in turn, benefit businesses. “Anytime you make it easier for the consumer to buy your products, you win because they’re going to do so more often,” Winder adds. “It’s sort of meeting customers where they are, listening to customers, making their life a lot easier, informing them, and helping convert customers information or questions into sales.” For shoppers, Winder says a driver for a lot of these tech changes comes down to convenience. He says there are vertical agents like ChatGPT and Gemini but also several companies that have created their own AI agents. Despite the emphasis on convenience, Winder says there are some issues with the bots worth addressing. “There’s concerns right now with some of the agents about privacy and accuracy, particularly with some of the vertical agents, you know, ChatGPT and Gemini,” he explains. “There’s less concern about privacy and accuracy with the retailer specific agents like Alexa for shopping because it’s plugged right into the database.” Security expert David Shipley says AI tools are great at gathering large bodies of information but often prioritize certain information based on their algorithms. “When searching like your typical Google results, often had a little bit more maturity when it came to sniffing out fraud. And we’re seeing a lot of criminals building fake websites that are pixel perfect and often optimized to trick AI,” says Shipley, Beauceron Security CEO. He adds that companies need to be careful when using AI tools as they could offer deals that may not exist and then the company is liable for their actions. “Some brands, like Amazon, have banned Meta’s Muse AI agent from shopping on its site. And it’s done that because Meta’s Muse actually doesn’t tell people or tell the website providers, ‘Hey, I’m an AI acting on David’s behalf,’” says Shipley. Canada’s banks have also encouraged people not to share any of their banking information with AI. “Canada’s banks have come out and said, ‘Don’t even think about plugging these into your banking.’ “So, if you set up one of these bots and find some way to make it work with your bank… and your bot decides to order $2,000 worth of meat - which actually was a hilarious episode from a TV show called Silicon Valley where someone’s rogue AI decided to order massive amounts of frozen burger - you might be stuck with the bill and with the products on that side, and no one’s coming to your rescue,” Shipley says. With Black Friday and big shopping events on the horizon, Winder foresees more people might turn to these tools. Though he adds he doesn’t think AI shopping will replace brick and mortar or online shopping. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
