Image: © Dual Studio/Stock.adobe.com
Amazon said these AI-generated summaries will capture the key points that reviewers make about a product, while the company’s hardware chief, Dave Limp, is stepping down.
Amazon plans to create summaries of product reviews on its store, with the use of generative AI.
The company said the goal is to make it easier to see “common themes” in reviews for a product. The feature is currently available to a “subset” of mobile users in the US.
This feature creates a summary paragraph, which explains what customers think about the product. There are also certain buzzwords customers can click if they want to find specific reviews, such as ones that reference the “ease of use” of a product.
The screenshot examples shared by Amazon only show positive examples of what people would say in a review, rather than any negative statements about a product. The company said it welcomes authentic reviews “whether positive or negative”, but noted that it is also using machine learning as a way to stop fake reviews that “intentionally mislead customers”.
“The new AI-generated review highlights use only our trusted review corpus from verified purchases, ensuring that customers can easily understand the community’s opinions at a glance,” Amazon said. “We are always pushing for as many honest and trustworthy reviews, free of influence or manipulation, as possible.”
Amazon did not give a timeframe for when it plans to expand this feature to other countries. Anita Schjøll Abildgaaard, the CEO of Iris.ai, said Amazon is not the first to use AI for summarisation but noted the positive impact it could have on how people view this technology.
“The use of generative AI by Amazon to summarise product reviews could make great strides towards building trust in AI, if Amazon takes the summarisations a step further to include citations,” Schjøll Abildgaaard said.
“Outputs from generative AI models that are able to cite where the information they have used has come from will build understanding into how the models work, much more than the popular black box solutions.”
Amazon has been shifting its focus to AI in recent months, like many companies in the tech sector. Earlier this month, CEO Andy Jassy said that every single one of Amazon’s businesses are working on “multiple generative AI initiatives”.
Dave Limp stepping down
Meanwhile, the tech giant’s hardware chief, Dave Limp, is stepping down from the company after working there for nearly 14 years.
Limp is the senior VP of Amazon’s devices and services division, handling the development, retail sales and operational aspects of products like Alexa, Echo, Kindle and more.
Jassy said Limp will remain in the role for the next few months, with a successor being announced “in the coming weeks”.
“Dave has been an outstanding innovator, exhibited strong judgment and ownership, and built a strong organisation with high standards,” Jassy said. “He has also been somebody whose counsel and insights I’ve valued immensely.”
Limp said “it’s time” to leave the company as he has been in a similar type of role for decades, though he spoke highly of his time with Amazon.
“I love this company; it has taught me so much on what it takes to scale and really be customer obsessed,” Limp said. “In my opinion, there is no better company to invent at scale.”
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