Amazon AI Shopping Assistant Rufus Answers Non-Shopping Questions Too

Just in time for Amazon’s Prime Day deals blowout, the company announced that its AI-powered shopping assistant Rufus is now available to all U.S. customers.

“Rufus is designed to help customers save time and make more informed purchase decisions by answering questions on a variety of shopping needs and products right in the Amazon Shopping app,” Amazon said in a Friday blog post alerting the public to the chatbot’s broad availability. “It’s like having a shopping assistant with you any time you’re in our store.”

Amazon first revealed Rufus in February, but only made it accessible to a limited number of users in the app until now. Customers have already asked Rufus tens of millions of questions, according to Amazon, and they’ll likely ask a cascade more as Prime Day shopping madness approaches on July 16 and 17.

Rufus is trained on Amazon’s extensive product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&As and information from across the web, and it’s omniscient when it comes to shopping.

You can ask for details of a product (is this shirt machine-washable?) or what fellow customers are saying about it. You can also ask the chatbot for specific merchandise recommendations and category comparisons: “Compare OLED and QLED TVs” or “compare trail shoes and running shoes.” It can tell you when your order’s arriving and when you last ordered your favorite sunscreen.

Hanging Out With Rufus

In a surprising twist for a shopping chatbot, Rufus can also answer general queries, from the political to the philosophical. A chatbot that can tell me which mop to buy, link to that mop and answer my existential questions? I had to try it out. (Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on why it trained Rufus with such wide capabilities.)

I fired up my Amazing Shopping app and tapped the little orange and teal icon in the bottom right corner that signifies that Rufus is ready to interact. Anyone who’s conversed with a customer service chatbot knows the drill: Pose a question via typing or voice dictation (I typed), and get an answer.

First, I asked Rufus which product is best for cleaning hardwood floors, and I instantly got guidelines for what to keep in mind (“look for pH-neutral cleaners that won’t strip the floor’s finish”). Rufus also returned five specific floor-cleaning products, with links to Amazon shopping pages, of course. Rufus even suggested additional questions I might want to ask, like “How often should hardwood floors be cleaned?”

I could have gotten similar answers through Google or ChatGPT, and I did when I input the same questions into both. But for shoppers prone to making purchases on Amazon, Rufus streamlines the research-to-purchase trajectory by keeping the whole exercise in one ecosystem.

Rufus On The Meaning Of Life

I’d read that Rufus can answer non-shopping questions too, so once I’d settled any hardwood floor confusion I decided to see whether Amazon’s AI-powered helper could assist in matters weightier than mops, like the meaning of life.

Rufus acknowledged that I’d asked a question that has been contemplated by philosophers, theologians and thinkers throughout history. It then broke down the elements commonly thought to contribute to a life of meaning: finding fulfillment, being part of something greater, living ethically. It suggested additional questions I could click on too, such as “How can one research reputable charities effectively?”).

As my new chatbot friend and I detoured into territory beyond housecleaning, I was relieved Rufus refrained from injecting recommendations based on my shopping history. A link to shower curtain rods as part of a conversation about the purpose of life would have felt awkward.

When I slightly rephrased my question, however, asking for products that could make life meaningful, Rufus offered search links to spiritual books, mindfulness and meditation offerings, merchandise whose proceeds go to charity and gratitude journals. I was grateful it stayed on topic and didn’t veer off into eye cream or shoes.

It’s still early days for Rufus, though hopefully it will maintain that sense of decorum. Amazon says it will continue to improve Rufus with customer input, so I’ll be back to check on its evolution as an AI philosopher.