News
The Gist
- AI highlights. Amazon launches AI-driven review tool.
- Feedback evolution. Amazon's user reviews surpass 1.5 billion.
- Combating fake reviews. Amazon intensifies battle against fake reviews.
Amazon has rolled out a new AI-powered feature to streamline the often-tedious task of combing through endless customer reviews for that product you've been eyeing.
On Monday, Aug. 14, the ecommerce leader introduced its AI-generated review highlights, a tool that offers a snapshot of a product's collective feedback on the product page — emphasizing key features and prevailing sentiments from the myriad of reviews.
For avid researchers, this innovation could prove to be a significant time-saver, especially for popular items like the Amazon Smart Plug and a pair of snazzy orange Crocs, that currently boast more than 500,000 reviews each.
These AI-generated review highlights not only encapsulate key product attributes but also enables customers to efficiently locate specific reviews that touch upon particular attributes like ease of use, performance, quality and fit – among others.
Amazon is currently trialing "review highlights" with a select group of US mobile users. While there's potential for broader availability in the future, the company has not confirmed further expansion details but said this feature, presently accessible across a wide range of products, will extend to more categories in the upcoming months.
Related Article: Two Years in, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy Faces Challenges at Every Turn
From Skepticism to 1.5B Customer Reviews: Amazon's Ecommerce Evolution
In 1995, Amazon pioneered a then-radical concept — allow customers to voice their genuine opinions on products, be they positive, negative or somewhere in between.
When the online giant first introduced customer reviews, many were perplexed by the audacious move to invite unfiltered feedback. However, what was initially seen as a daring gamble quickly became one of Amazon's defining features — setting the tone for more transparent ecommerce transactions.
Last year alone, 125 million customers contributed nearly 1.5 billion customer reviews and ratings to Amazon stores — that’s 45 reviews every second.
“Customers love learning from each other and sharing their feedback with the community ... making reviews an incredible resource for shoppers,” said Vaughn Schermerhorn, director of community shopping at Amazon. “We want to make it even easier for customers to understand the common themes across reviews and, with the recent advancements in generative AI, we believe we have the technical means to address this long-standing customer need.”
Amazon's All-out Assault on Customer Review Fraud
Beyond enhancing customer experience, Amazon’s latest announcement is also aimed at ramping up efforts to bolster the integrity of its customer review system, and, as part of the launch, the company emphasized its ongoing commitment to actively combat fake customer reviews, including “machine learning models that analyze thousands of data points to detect risk, including relations to other accounts, sign-in activity, review history and other indications of unusual behavior.”
According to Schermerhorn, “the new AI-generated review highlights use only our trusted review corpus from verified purchases, ensuring that customers can easily understand the community’s opinions at a glance.”
Amazon previously shared its efforts in creating a trustworthy customer reviews experience in 2021, when the company said they were able to stop “more than 200 million suspected fake reviews before they were ever seen by a customer.”
But in April, The Guardian reported on the “huge international ecosystem of inflated scores” within the online customer review community. Purportedly groups offering fake reviews are thriving on Facebook, with 34 such groups encompassing 56,000 members related to Amazon alone.
By blending human oversight with advanced machine learning, the company aims to filter out fake customer reviews and uphold authentic feedback. According to company officials, Amazon’s AI-generated customer review highlights utilize only genuine customer reviews from verified purchases.
Related Article: FTC Dings Amazon for Poor Customer Experience on Amazon Prime
AI Innovations, Skyrocketing Revenues and FTC Feuds: Amazon's Year in Review
Often lauded for emphasizing ease and personalization, the ecommerce leader consistently refines its customer experience with initiatives that have included Amazon Hub Lockers for secure package delivery, one-click checkout and simplified product returns with free options and convenient drop-off points.
In April, Amazon entered the generative AI race with the unveiling of Amazon Bedrock, a cloud service that enables developers to incorporate artificial intelligence systems into their software, with features comparable to OpenAI's ChatGPT.
In its second quarter, Amazon’s reported revenue was $134.4 billion, up 11% from the same period last year, and Amazon’s cloud unit AWS, gained $22.1 billion in revenue.
But not everyone is a fan...
Businesses that simply can’t compete with Prime’s quick delivery schedule, blame Amazon for creating an increasingly impatient consumer mindset and setting impossible customer expectations.
In June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a complaint against Amazon, alleging the company employed "dark patterns" — manipulative and deceptive user-interface designs — to entice millions into auto-renewing Prime subscriptions and intentionally made the cancellation process challenging. For its part, Amazon disputed the claims and, in a statement, called the FTC's complaint announcement premature, adding, “we look forward to proving our case in court.”
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And this year alone, Amazon axed about 27,000 positions. The company also recently instituted a widely unpopular policy requiring employees to work on site at least three days each week — meaning that many will have to elect to move to locations with main offices, or resign their position entirely.
In a year rife with tech advancements and corporate tribulations, Amazon remains unyielding in its quest for innovation, merging state-of-the-art AI technology with its cornerstone commitment to customer feedback. While amassing impressive revenues and stepping boldly into the generative AI domain, it also grapples with external criticisms and internal policy shifts. As the online behemoth charts its course, one thing remains clear: Amazon's enduring aim to reshape the ecommerce landscape is as unwavering as the candid voices of its vast customer base.
