As the holidays approach, millions of Americans will begin shopping online, while tech companies are competing to hand over the shopping task to AI agents. Perplexity is the first company to launch an AI shopping agent for paying customers in the U.S., which can assist users in browsing retail websites, finding desired products, and even completing the checkout process.
While Perplexity may be the first large AI startup to offer such services, other tech companies are also accelerating the development of similar tools. Reports suggest that OpenAI and Google are also developing their own AI agents to assist users with tasks such as booking flights and hotels. For Amazon, launching the AI chatbot Rufus to help users with checkout seems to be a natural progression.
How does the AI shopping agent work?
Perplexity's AI shopping agent can automatically browse multiple retail websites, select products, and help users complete their purchases upon request. Users only need to provide simple spoken commands, and the AI agent will begin executing the task. For example, a user can tell the AI agent, "I want to buy toothpaste," and the AI will provide several options and complete the purchase directly.
However, although this process sounds easy and convenient, there are still many challenges. According to tests by TechCrunch, Perplexity's shopping agent sometimes encounters issues with purchases and takes longer to process transactions. Some purchase requests even require human intervention to ensure successful completion. Perplexity states that certain processes of its AI agent depend on human oversight to ensure smooth transactions and avoid issues like erroneous purchases.
The integration of AI and payment systems
To ensure the AI agent can make purchases smoothly, Perplexity has partnered with Stripe, using its payment system to handle transactions. Stripe provides Perplexity's AI agent with a one-time debit card for online payments, avoiding direct access to the user's bank account. This way, even if the AI agent makes a mistake, it can only result in a minor financial loss without jeopardizing the user's financial security.
However, this payment method also raises privacy concerns, especially with the collaboration between AI agents and human inspectors. While these tools may effectively enhance the shopping experience, there are still concerns regarding privacy and data security.
The future and challenges of AI agents
Perplexity's AI shopping agent has the potential to disrupt traditional online shopping models. With advancements in technology, these AI agents are expected to save users a significant amount of time and help find hard-to-locate products or deals. Especially during the holiday shopping season, the potential of AI shopping agents will be further showcased.
However, retailers and advertisers do not fully welcome this change, as AI agents may bypass the sales channels of retailers, affecting their ability to gather user data and promote products. As a result, many companies, such as Rabbit and Anthropic, are training AI agents to simulate real users to avoid licensing issues that could arise from directly accessing retailers' backends.
Additionally, how AI shopping agents will handle website security measures, such as CAPTCHA verification mechanisms, is one of the significant challenges for future technological development.
Conclusion
Although Perplexity's AI shopping agent is still in its early stages and faces many technical challenges, it undoubtedly demonstrates the enormous potential of artificial intelligence in the online shopping realm. In the coming years, tech companies like Perplexity, OpenAI, and Google are expected to continue launching more advanced AI shopping agents, fundamentally changing the way consumers shop. For traditional retailers, how to maintain competitiveness in this emerging era of AI shopping will be a critical issue to watch.
