Amazon has decided to test out some new audio features on select product pages, the company announced recently. These short AI-powered summaries will be voiced by what Amazon calls “AI-powered shopping experts,” who will discuss key product features, customer reviews, and information from across the web. The idea is to provide customers with a more conversational and discussion-style format to help them make purchasing decisions.
To access these new audio summaries, customers simply need to tap the “Hear the highlights” button in the Amazon Shopping app. The feature will be tested on products that typically require more consideration before purchase, according to the company. Amazon hopes that this new feature will help customers save time while shopping and get important information in a more convenient way.
The company explained that the feature uses large language models (LLMs) to generate scripts by pulling information from customer reviews and the web. These scripts are then transformed into short-form audio clips for customers to listen to. Currently, the summaries are only available on select products to some U.S. customers, but Amazon plans to expand the feature to more products and additional customers in the coming months.
Amazon’s new AI product summaries join the company’s existing suite of AI-powered shopping features, including Rufus, its generative AI shopping assistant, and Interests, an AI feature that monitors new products matching customers’ interests. Google has also been leveraging short-form AI-powered audio to help users get information quickly and efficiently, with features like Audio Overviews in its NotebookLM.
It’s not really clear why Amazon decided to introduce this new audio feature, but maybe it’s just to make shopping a bit more fun and convenient for customers. By having friendly voices discuss potential purchases, Amazon hopes to make the shopping experience easier for customers, even when they’re multitasking or on the go. Whether this new feature will be a hit with customers remains to be seen, but Amazon seems confident that it will be a useful addition to its platform.
As a consumer news reporter at TechCrunch, Aisha brings a fresh perspective to the latest tech trends. With a background in telecom reporting at MobileSyrup, Aisha is well-equipped to cover the ever-changing world of technology. Holding an honors bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in journalism from Western University, Aisha is passionate about delivering accurate and engaging news to her readers.
Overall, Amazon’s new audio product summaries are an interesting addition to the company’s shopping experience. By providing customers with more information in a conversational format, Amazon hopes to make the shopping process easier and more enjoyable. With plans to expand the feature to more products and customers in the future, it will be interesting to see how customers respond to this new way of shopping on Amazon.
