Amazon shoppers are finding that the company's new profile feature that uses artificial intelligence can be unexpectedly, and even rudely, personal.
Here's what to know
Amazon rolled out its "About You" feature in May as part of a push for AI-integrated shopping, according to Business Insider.
Rather than only suggesting items behind the scenes, Amazon's system assembles an editable set of traits and preferences it believes it has inferred about each customer and uses that profile to steer product suggestions.
Amazon says those recommendations draw on data like customers' purchase histories and conversations with Amazon's Alexa for Shopping assistant.
Instead of leaving that personalization invisible, the feature shows shoppers the assumptions feeding those recommendations.
Sharing a screenshot on Threads of the feature, Megan Montgomery (@FangirlinMegan) wrote, "I stumbled upon a page of assumptions that Amazon has made about me," after Amazon appeared to conclude that Montgomery "has flat buttocks."
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View on Threads
Montgomery added, "I'm literally speechless."
Social media users said the feature was making bold deductions from their shopping activity. One person shared a photo and said Amazon inferred that the shopper "has a husband" and that the "husband has skinny legs."
Another said the AI somehow concluded they use their "phone in the shower to read Kindle books."
More background
Personalized recommendations on Amazon are nothing new, but "About You" exposes the underlying profile by showing shoppers what the retailer seems to believe about them.
Another Threads user posted a screenshot showing the phrase "does not trust people easily" under "Interests & Hobbies."
Reddit users also reported unusual conclusions. In one example cited by Business Insider, a shopper said the system deduced that they do "not know what truffle is supposed to taste like."
What can be done?
Business Insider reported that Amazon says "About You" is accessible through the Shopping app, mobile web, and desktop.
In the app, you can navigate to Account, Shopping preferences, and About You.
From that screen, you can review each item the feature lists and change or delete anything you don't want used for future recommendations.
Business Insider reported that when several of its reporters checked their own profiles, the results were mixed.
One account got an editor's partner's name wrong while correctly picking up a slow-but-steady kitchen appliance upgrade.
Another reporter said Amazon correctly understood the reporter's preference for organic produce.
Where can I learn more?
Amazon's awkward profiles based on private data are part of a pattern of AI tools making personal, concerning, and flawed calls.
• Shoppers seeking gift help found unhelpful personalized shopping suggestions that felt weirdly insulting.
• More than 1,000 Amazon employees signed a damning letter warning about surveillance and militarization.
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