Amazon to Feature AI-Generated Product Images in Search Results for Unknown Reasons

In what may be one of the more questionable uses of AI to date, Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will feature AI-generated images of products within its shopping app based on users’ search queries. That’s right — a retailer where customers buy tangible items believes that displaying fake images will “assist” consumers in better locating what they want.

Enough already.

Here’s how Amazon explains in a blog post that this feature will operate. Customers may have something specific in mind but might be unsure of the exact term to use for yielding useful results. (The examples Amazon cites include terms like “cowl neck” for a type of shirt or “rattan” for furniture.)

Image Credits: Amazon

When someone enters a search query, they’ll be presented with a variety of AI-generated product images displayed below their autocomplete suggestions (refer to the image above).

For instance, if you search for a blue gingham dress, you may see a selection of dress styles — with short or long sleeves, varying lengths, and other options — showcased as visual choices. The concept is that by clicking on one, you would be directed to search results that align more closely with that style, enhanced by Amazon’s visual search capabilities.

In practice, it’s quite perplexing for a retailer to create fictitious products to help guide users to search results.

For starters, it’s potentially misleading — customers who don’t read carefully may assume they’re being sent to a page where they can find that specific dress, only to be disappointed when it’s not available. Moreover, there’s the rather obvious question of why generate product images when you already have a website filled with authentic photographs of real items — which is presumably what an online shopper actually wants to see.

This feature follows several other attempts by Amazon to integrate AI into its retail platform and shopping app, with mixed results. On the more positive side, Amazon already leverages AI to summarize customer reviews, which saves users from having to read them all to better understand the key pros and cons of a product. More oddly, last year, it launched a brief audio product summary feature, where AI experts outline a product’s highlights in a podcast-style format.

Other recent AI features include AI-generated “shoppable collages” aimed at directing users to curated pages focused on specific fashion styles; Amazon Lens Live, which scans products within a camera’s view to find visual matches; the ability to add text to visual searches; and a Lock Screen visual search widget for iOS.

Earlier this month, Amazon also replaced its Rufus AI chatbot with Alexa for Shopping, enabling natural language shopping queries via voice and text.

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