I’ve performed round a bunch with ChatGPT Agent, together with getting it to purchase film tickets for a date night with my wife. However, I have never used it to purchase a lot else on-line as I are likely to restrict my e-commerce procuring to presents I’ve obsessively researched forward of time. However I would seen reviews that Amazon had put a blanket ban on AI brokers procuring on its platform, so I made a decision to try it out by asking ChatGPT Agent to go on Amazon and purchase some Purina dental chews for my new pet.
Merely, the agent wasn’t in a position to do something on Amazon in any respect. It bumped into the “503 error” web page, amusingly accompanied by an image of a canine. Each try and get across the error web page led to the identical error web page, albeit with totally different canines.
Lastly, in its most apologetic tone, ChatGPT Agent admitted that it couldn’t full the duty as a result of “community restrictions [were] making interactions with Amazon not possible.”
ChatGPT Agent is designed to do on-line procuring. It will possibly browse web sites, click on buttons, and provoke checkouts together with your permission. Simply to check it, I requested it to purchase the identical treats at PetSmart, and it had no downside navigating the web retailer and multi-step checkout course of. However in relation to Amazon, it’s not a matter of persistence. It’s a matter of Amazon not wanting it there.
No brokers at Amazon
In accordance with a number of reviews, Amazon has up to date its code to forestall not simply ChatGPT’s procuring agent, but in addition Google Gemini. They’ve modified their robots.txt file to disallow brokers, to allow them to’t even get in, not to mention purchase something.
It is arduous in charge Amazon for wanting to maintain third-party brokers away. With out human oversight, Amazon loses management over what you see and the ability to push you towards sure manufacturers or show adverts. The corporate has invested billions of {dollars} to turn into the place to begin for on-line procuring. No surprise they do not need ChatGPT or Gemini to turn into the intermediary.
After all, that makes issues difficult for an AI developer bragging about their automated shopper. These brokers turn into a lot much less helpful if you cannot say, “Hey ChatGPT, order me toothpaste,” however as an alternative must say, “Hey ChatGPT, discover me toothpaste on the few websites that permit you to function, put together a procuring cart, then ask me to finish the order manually prefer it’s 2005.”
Until, in fact, a deal is struck between Amazon and OpenAI or Google. But when Amazon’s rumored plans for its personal procuring agent come to fruition, it is arduous to think about what that deal would appear like. The form of AI-powered ecommerce is way from set, but when each huge retailer builds its personal walled-off procuring agent, we’re going to finish up with a balkanized ecosystem of competing bots, like having a browser for each tab you need to open.
In case you’re in search of a silver lining, smaller companies may be those to learn. Amazon and Shopify have the clout to withstand AI brokers, however smaller on-line retailers may be much more open to collaboration. In case you’re working a distinct segment website and need to make it simpler for folks to buy by ChatGPT or Gemini, why not welcome the brokers?
It may be the brand new SEO, however as an alternative of optimizing for search engines like google, you’d optimize for autonomous brokers that do the purchasing for their customers. Get in early, and also you would possibly seize a slice of the longer term Amazon is attempting to fence off.
You may also like
Source link
