ATLANTA — For the first time, shoppers are expected spend more than $1 trillion this holiday season. A major change, though, is the influence of artificial intelligence on everything from advertising to the shopping experience.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna was live in Buckhead outside Lenox Square for Channel 2 Action News at 5:00.
This holiday season is expected to bring record-breaking spending.
The projections follow a slight increase in spending we’ve seen for the last decade.
But as more people look for deals and sales, more stores and shoppers are turning to AI.
“You know, I think it’s exciting,” shopper Brett Conway said of AI’s influence on shopping.
“Actually, I’m surprised,” Azionne Vorrice said.
“AI is going to play a pretty significant factor compared to any of the holiday seasons we’ve seen so far,” said Georgia State University professor of marketing Denish Shah.
He says AI is ingrained nearly everywhere. Companies like Amazon and Google to smaller retailers are now offering their own AI Agents.
The promise is AI to act as your own personal shopper, scouring stores to find you the best products at the best prices.
“So I think we are looking at a world right out of a science fiction movie,” Shah said.
He says it’s unclear who the bot is truly working for. Is it actually finding the best deals for you, or the best deal for companies?
“Am I confident enough or do I trust that AI tool that it’s giving me the products that are in my best interest?” Shah said.
For shoppers this holiday season, they want to make every dollar count and wondering how AI will impact the holiday shopping season.
“It’s just AI is so new, there’s a lot of uncharted territory,” Vorrice said.
“I think this is the tip of the iceberg, actually. And I think we’ve got a long way to go and there’s gonna be a lot of adjustments along the way,” Conway said.
And Shah says even if you are trying not to use a bot to help you shop, AI is still involved.
He says many of the ads we are being targeted with are being created or targeted towards you through AI.
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