AI can help everywhere from email apps to fast food restaurants. Now, Amazon is keen to get involved in the AI revolution with an AI bot called Rufus that can answer questions, research products, and help make good purchasing decisions across Amazon.
Maybe you’re stuck for gift ideas for that special someone in your life. Or maybe you need to compare two products. From asking questions about active orders to finding out more about the products you’re considering purchasing, Rufus can help. Here’s how to search for it:
How and where Rufus works
Rufus may provide you with quick suggestions based on your browsing history. Screenshot: Amazon
If you’re familiar with AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Gemini, you’ll probably agree with Rufus. It’s trained on “Amazon’s extensive product catalog, customer reviews, community Q&A, and information from around the web,” which it sifts through, combines, and summarizes to answer your questions.
However, these bots are designed to generate fresh, original responses rather than simply copying and pasting information, so mistakes are possible (as always with these AI models). There is a gender. Amazon says Rufus “doesn’t always get things right,” so it’s worth double-checking important details. Do not assume that everything Rufus sells is 100% correct. Additionally, please do not share any personal or private information with Rufus.
If you’re using the Amazon Shopping app for Android or iOS, you’ll see Rufus on the right side of the bottom navigation bar (the Rufus logo is two blobs with a star next to them): tap the button , open a chat window and start asking questions. If you are shopping through the Amazon website, on the left side of the top toolbar[Rufus]A button will appear.
Immediately, Rufus suggests questions to ask. Some of the questions may be related to recent searches or recent purchases. Click or tap on one of the suggestions, or enter your own question or prompt, and Rufus will instantly take action.
After each response, you are given the opportunity to ask follow-up questions (Rufus remembers your conversation history) and rate the responses given (using the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons). You can clear your chat history in Rufus, but only within the app, not on the web. Tap the three dots (top right),[チャットの管理]and[チャット履歴のクリア]Select.
Questions and prompts to try with Rufus
One way to use the bot is to ask questions about products. Screenshot: Amazon
Rufus knows what you’re looking at on the Amazon platform, so it can ask you questions about the products you see on your screen. For example, you can ask about the item’s weight, material, battery life, etc. In some cases, the bot directly references something in the list.
Rufus can go beyond individual product pages to answer more general shopping questions. You may want to ask what is the best tool for a particular job, how two particular items compare to each other, or what (and how) a particular item actually does. You can also ask about trends in product categories and see what’s popular with other shoppers, for example.
You can get pretty creative by asking these questions. For example, you might ask about the tools and materials needed to build a garden shed, what gifts would be appropriate for a 5-year-old’s birthday, or about supplies needed for a dinner party. If you need any advice, Rufus will try to give you some tips.
This is where Rufus starts to resemble other generative AI chatbots. If you’re having trouble finding shopping inspiration or don’t know how to compare the two types of TV technology, we’ve got your answer. Your question doesn’t have to be specifically about what Amazon sells, but it’s very likely that you’ll see a link to see related products on the site anyway.
Finally, you can also chat with Rufus about the status of your current order and when you last ordered packaging tape. Sometimes you’ll get a direct answer, and sometimes you’ll be given a link to a related page on the Amazon site. By the way, if you’re wondering how Amazon came up with this name, it has something to do with one of Amazon’s earliest employees.
