Amazon Unleashes Gen AI For Product Descriptions, Curbs It For Kindle 27
Amazon.com has introduced a generative AI service that it claims will "dramatically improve the listing creation and management experience for sellers." The company says the AI "will simplify how Amazon sellers create more thorough and captivating product descriptions" and "enrich existing listings, helping customers more confidently make purchase decisions." The Register reports: Using an unspecified large language model, Amazon will allow sellers to enter "a brief description of the product in a few words or sentences" and then "generate high-quality content for their review." Sellers can review the AI output, or just "directly submit the automatically generated content to the Amazon catalog." Amazon reckons the results will offer customers "more complete, consistent, and engaging product information that will enhance their shopping experiences."
Authors who post their works to the e-tail elephant's Kindle bookstore also need to consider AI as last week the content guidelines for e-book authors and publishers added a requirement to disclose machine-generated content "when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book." Amazon wants to be told of any AI-generated images, texts, or translations. Altering the work of an AI does not exempt authors and publishers from this requirement, as Amazon's definition of "AI-generated" includes material generated by a machine that received "substantial edits" by a human. AI-assisted content -- defined as material created by a human and then offered to a machine for edits, refinements, error-checks or other improvements -- doesn't have to be disclosed.
Authors who post their works to the e-tail elephant's Kindle bookstore also need to consider AI as last week the content guidelines for e-book authors and publishers added a requirement to disclose machine-generated content "when you publish a new book or make edits to and republish an existing book." Amazon wants to be told of any AI-generated images, texts, or translations. Altering the work of an AI does not exempt authors and publishers from this requirement, as Amazon's definition of "AI-generated" includes material generated by a machine that received "substantial edits" by a human. AI-assisted content -- defined as material created by a human and then offered to a machine for edits, refinements, error-checks or other improvements -- doesn't have to be disclosed.
Soo, easier bullshit creation? (Score:3)
As to how great the products are? Because I see nobody that just puts in the factual description needing this at all.
Re: (Score:2)
As to how great the products are? Because I see nobody that just puts in the factual description needing this at all.
I see those wishing to try and absolve themselves of all liability 'needing' this.
Why take on the responsibility of a product when you can blame the nameless, faceless entity of AI for bullshit product claims justified under the guise of 'captivating' marketing?
Should generate one hell of a boost for the legal community, which is likely by design as well.
Re: (Score:3)
There are two ways this could work.
One is you enter a brief description, and it generates a lot of fluff text with no more information than was in your brief description. I don't see that "helping customers more confidently make purchase decisions."
The other is you enter a brief description, and it makes up new fake information that wasn't in your description. I really don't see how that helps customers.
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Yeah, replace each occurrence of "high quality content" with "low quality content" and that press release might be a little more honest.
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Well, that press release was probably a product sample of that "AI".
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It might help the English-as-a-second-language sellers sell on the English speaking sites though. Some of the badly translated descriptions take a good few re-readings to even understand what they were (probably) trying to say - let alone if that's what you actually want to buy.
Whilst it's easy to dismiss the "Engrish", the truth is some of those sellers have the product you (maybe) want, at a lower price than anyone else. From Amazon's point of view, they want to connect that seller to the buyer as easily
What about brand names? (Score:3)
Will this also help scummy fly-by-night vendors generate more plausible brand names than (slightly exaggerating) FRAUVSKI and RUPOFF for their product names? I sure hope not!
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Will this also help scummy fly-by-night vendors generate more plausible brand names than (slightly exaggerating) FRAUVSKI and RUPOFF for their product names? I sure hope not!
In a world where humans "google" and "tweet", I'm laughing at the idea of a 'plausible' name for the Amazon pimps of the world selling everything from ant farms to zebra farts.
Re: (Score:1)
False Advertising (Score:2)
If you make it too easy to generate descriptions without anyone reading it to see if the descriptions are untruthful or misleading, it could possibly be False Advertising. (Not that you can actually sue anyone for this)
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...it could possibly be False Advertising. (Not that you can actually sue anyone for this)
Could possibly be? We've read enough BadChatGPT. More like most likely. (And we're starting to see the entire point of this; potentially a corrupt attempt at shifting liability due to non-existent AI law.)
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It's more about "too small to sue", or impossible to track down the people responsible.
Did we need this? (Score:2)
Good for thee (Score:2)
Not for me
Sounds good to me (Score:2)
At least the meaningless, contradictory broken Chinese English product descriptions that we see today will have good grammar.
I don't want ... (Score:2)
"captivating product descriptions" or other fluff and crap
I want ACCURATE descriptions and high res photos of the actual product, preferably with a link to the manual
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If you want to know about a product, go to the actual manufacturer. They're the only ones who would know with any level of accuracy.
Everyone else exists to sell it to you, by any means necessary.
EBAY does it (Score:2)
Ebay already has been doing this
Online sellers (Score:1)
One thing that *could* be much improved is the search function. (Amazon, but also other online mass stores.) Now they tell us that this is by design, so that the buyer spends more time on the site and buys more stuff. Beachplease. I've wasted countless hours paging through search results to find the one item I came looking for, and left in disgust and without a sale when I did not find it - not a good state of mind to go buy some other junk that I happened to see, because the stuff I had to page through I w
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In the beginning, god made Amazon, and saw that it was good. We're way past that now. Google is a better way to find products on Amazon than searching in Amazon.
Dominatrix (Score:2)
It's like Amazon has this S&M relationship with its customers. The latter seem to like being hit with crap and their money taken away, and they are too submissive to go buy somewhere else or demand better treatment (or just be content with what they have) - each time that cardboard box with its arrow-smile arrives they experience another high. And Amazon is just working on increasing the pain it gives its lovers...
So, harder to ID crap listings. China says thanks (Score:2)
So, I'm sure those sellers appreciate the help.
Amazon says (Score:2)
entropy (Score:2)
I'm quite confident this will make the descriptions even worse. I don't know how, but I know it will.
The future (Score:1)
I see Amazon is leaning even more into the model of "buy it now, return it when it turns out to not be what was advertised"