A small selection of Amazon customers can now interact with the “Rufus” AI chatbot.
Rufus uses natural language to help you find, research, or compare products within the Amazon app.
A staggered launch will bring Rufus to all Amazon customers over the coming weeks.
Andrew Heinzman / How-To Geek
Rufus will appear at the bottom of your screen when searching for items in the Amazon mobile app.
Suggested follow-up questions will appear above your keyboard, and Rufus will link to any items it mentions.
For more immediate access to Rufus, bang out a question into the Amazon search bar.
You could ask “What’s the best coffee maker?”
or “What are some good Christmas presents for children?”.
In theory, Rufus will save you from researching products on Google Search, YouTube, or TikTok.
You’lll stay inside the Amazon app, so you won’t be distracted from shopping.
As for Rufus' reliability or trustworthinesswell, that remains to be seen.
If Rufus answers your questions incorrectly, it may convince you to buy a bad product.
The AI may also be accused of false advertising if it overstates a product’s capabilities.
Rufus' training model includes information from the Amazon product catalog and the general web.
This may be accomplished through misleading product listings or web articles.
Of course, Rufus is new, so we don’t know how easily it will be manipulated.
The original Rufus was a de-facto mascot for Amazon and paved the way for Amazon’s dog-friendly work culture.
