BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Holiday shoppers struggling with gift ideas could find relief through artificial intelligence tools that help identify presents based on limited information about recipients.
Andrew Schwarz, a professor at LSU's College of Business, said AI-powered shopping bots are becoming important consumer tools, particularly for finding deals during the holiday season.
"Shopping bots are becoming one of the most important ways in which us as consumers are starting to use these technologies today," Schwarz said.
AI tools already helping consumers save money
Schwarz said similar technology already exists in travel booking platforms like Google Flights, which search for money-saving opportunities in the background.
"If you've ever had to shop for flights and used something like Google Flights for it, that's an example of an agent operating on the background to look for opportunities for you to save money on flights," Schwarz said. "Those same types of tools now are using AI as well without our knowledge necessarily on the back end, so they're scouring and looking for opportunities."
Schwarz said future AI developments could allow the technology to make purchases on behalf of consumers.
"Well, right now if you think about Chat GPT, I have to go and I have to type back and forth," Schwarz said. "Well, what if Chat GPT knew enough about me that I authorized it to do purchasing for me on my behalf? If you see this really cool product, go ahead and do it for me. Well then, AI is now taking the knowledge about you and then it can actually apply that and conduct an action."
Privacy and advertising concerns remain
Schwarz said privacy concerns about data sharing and potential advertising integration raise questions about the technology's future implementation.
"For example, if you're shopping for XYZ, can I pay so that Chat GPT suggests why don't you go to this retailer to find that particular product or not," Schwarz said. "So far, we have not entered to that point, but there is a possibility we could start to see that kind of opportunity evolve."
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