Amazon will display AI-generated product images when you shop for real-life products

Amazon continues to integrate AI in your online shopping. On Wednesday, the retail giant announced that US customers will see AI generated images when they enter product terms in the search bar. But these photos are not of real-life non-AI products available for purchase. Instead, they are intended to illustrate concepts and refine customer inquiries.

The company says the feature is now rolling out to buyers in the US.

The purpose of this move is to help shoppers who may not know the exact terminology for the item they are looking for. Amazon’s examples include « hood » for a shirt type with a draped collar and « rattan » for a couch style with woven side panels.

For searches like « women’s flannel shirt, » the site’s new feature displays a selection of AI-generated images of different clothing styles that match the query. Selecting an image directs shoppers to more precise search results tailored to that style.

The new feature is just Amazon’s latest AI-related move. The site now includes AI-generated summaries of reviews and podcast-style audio product descriptions, and Amazon Lens accesses your device’s camera to scan a product and provide visual matches. Amazon recently replaced its Rufus chatbot with Alexa for shopping in an attempt to make the process more conversational.

The feature could also create new opportunities to confuse users, and early reactions on Reddit suggest that some people are already skeptical.

These product photos are intended to act as visual suggestions to aid your overall search and are not actually physical inventory. Shoppers may find themselves gravitating toward an AI-generated image that appears to depict the perfect product, only to learn that the item displayed is not an actual product available for purchase on Amazon.

And it’s not clear why the company uses AI-generated images when millions of photos of real products already exist in its catalog.

An Amazon spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.