Remember those AI-generated shopping experts Amazon tested last year? The ones who described products and their benefits in a podcast-style conversation? Good news: you can now ask them questions.
Amazon says the feature, titled “Hear the Highlights,” is now available on “millions of products” in the company’s app. If the listing supports it, there will be a button beneath the product image that, when clicked, plays a short AI-generated audio snippet.
Usually, these recordings are quick conversations between the “host” and an “expert” about the desired product. However, what’s new is the ability to interrupt these AI podcasters to ask questions. After tapping a raised hand icon, you will then be able to either type or speak your question, and the AI hosts will answer your question after finishing a scripted section.
However, the feature is only available for the U.S. for now, but I was able to try it out by switching my location in the app to the U.S. Believe it or not, it actually does a pretty decent job.
You can’t ask questions that are too technical, or it will straight up refuse to answer. I messed around with it for a Marshall Bluetooth speaker, and I asked about how it holds up to speakers from companies like JBL, and it just didn’t even bother to send it through. When a question I asked did get through — I asked what the speaker could connect to — the AI ‘expert’ seemingly changed voices to answer, though it kept an English accent.
AI quirks aside, this is actually a surprisingly easy feature to use, and I could totally see myself using it if I don’t have the time to go through the reviews.
As mentioned earlier, it is available for U.S. customers only through the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android. However, it is really easy to change your location to the U.S. within the app if you want to give it a try.
Source: Amazon
