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- Microsoft’s Solution To Your AI Privacy Worries
Microsoft’s Solution To Your AI Privacy Worries
PLUS: Amazon Reviews, Cheap AI Ads And More...
Jo Lambadjieva
August 22, 2023
Hey there! Great to meet again this week for another dose of good ole’ Ai x Ecom mash-up.
As an online seller, I know how hard it is to keep up with the endless content out there. That's why I put in the work each week to comb through hundreds of articles, press releases, podcasts and more to filter out the noise. You have a business to run - who has time for that?
In this newsletter, I summarize the top ecommerce and Amazon developments so you can stay up-to-date in just a few minutes. I do the reading so you don't have to. Consider this your weekly ecommerce update to save you time while keeping you informed on what matters most.
TL;DR
Microsoft’s Solution To Your AI Privacy Worries
Amazon’s Review Update(s)
AI To Help The Freight Margins
The Big Guys Are Saving $$$ With AI
Microsoft Rolls Out AI For Business And It Means Business
This is probably the answer to a lot of the folks who have recently asked me about privacy and adopting AI in their organization…
Microsoft has unveiled Azure ChatGPT, an enterprise-focused version of the real deal. Deployed on Microsoft Azure, this open-source model allows companies to leverage ChatGPT’s capabilities privately within their own networks.
Azure ChatGPT touts built-in data isolation from OpenAI, connecting instead to internal data sources. Companies can install the model from GitHub and customize it for business use cases like task automation and code editing.
As companies grapple with safely harnessing AI, Microsoft's offering promises more privacy by keeping data within organizations.
What does this mean for ecommerce sellers?
There have been a lot of concerns over using AI with org data and data privacy (heyy EU based people grappling with GDPR🤟). This Azure rollout promises to deal with this and give you the freedom to build whatever you need to build internally to solve your automation problems while also keeping your organizational data safe. This means, yes you can play with AI + customer/employee/partner data and ramp up your insights.
Amazon Is AI-ing Product Reviews
Using generative AI, Amazon will now summarize all the key feedback on a product right on each listing. Instead of buyers wading through multiple reviews, a concise summary will now highlight what they really think about each product. Moreover, specific attributes like "ease of use" or "performance" will become clickable, leading straight to the related reviews
Initially launching on mobile for selected products, Amazon's aiming to scale up the smart summaries as it improves its AI. But will it spotlight bogus reviews? And will it highlight all the zombie listings trickeries?
This is not the only new thing re reviews Amazon is currently testing. Last week we also saw Amazon removing the number of reviews off SERP and just showing a summary of the average. Check out a great post by Alexander Swade here.
What does this mean for ecommerce sellers?
Hey, Black-hat-wearing Amazon sellers. Beware. This might shake up somewhat your current processes…This also means that the review moats dug by long-term sellers may not be as potent as they once were so it’s a threat to the ole’ dogs and an opportunity to newcomers. After all, Amazon loves good competition and now it’s stirring the pot.
Freight Brokerages To Cut Costs Through AI
Startup FleetWorks aims to streamline freight brokerage operations by automating repetitive manual tasks. Their AI platform handles routine phone calls and emails for tracking shipments, negotiating rates, and scheduling appointments. This should save time for brokers while reducing overhead costs.
Currently, human brokers make over 1 billion calls annually to execute loads, costing $5-15 each. FleetWorks claims they can automate calls for $1, tapping into a $1B near-term opportunity. Larger brokers spend $11B on operational staff, 70% doing repetitive work.
FleetWorks utilizes AI conversation to eliminate drudgery and overhead for freight brokers. If adoption is robust, the platform could meaningfully reduce reliance on human calling while enhancing broker efficiency.
What does this mean for ecommerce sellers?
In the short term, probably not much. But long term, margin efficiencies from AI tools like this should trickle down to ecom sellers and improvement in cost-cutting on all sides.
Big Brands Go Cheap And Cheerful With AI-Generated Ads
Well, not many gasps of surprise in the room, but, yeh, major advertising agencies and brands are increasingly utilizing generative AI to create cheap ads. Companies like Nestlé, Mondelez, and Unilever have already generated ads with AI tools, achieving significant cost savings.
That said, the Q is for how long will it be okay for these to go unlabeled and when will regulations kick in? While AI enables the mass production of customized ads at a fraction of the cost, it raises concerns about copyright protections and data privacy. As more brands tap AI's advertising potential, standards will probably be established regarding transparency and consent. There’s already a lot of noise in the space around unchecked proliferation of unlabeled AI ads and the risks of misleading audiences. As I wrote last week, Meta and TikTok are already labeling AI content and so the rest of the industry will probably have to follow suit pretty soon.
What does this mean for ecommerce sellers?
If you’re not already thinking about using AI as a way to generate your advertising content, then perhaps now is a good time to start looking into it. It can save you lots of 🤑🤑🤑.
If you are already doing so, worth checking on this space to see how regulatory bodies will kick in eventually and set new rules.
The Quick Read:
Amazon is broadening its Sponsored Products ads reach to sites like Pinterest and BuzzFeed. However, concerns arise with this expansion: the lack of control for sellers, potential dips in conversion rates and increased spend due to less intentional audiences, complexities in analyzing the impact of various traffic sources, and challenges for ROI-focused brands.
Snapchat's "My AI" chatbot unexpectedly posted a mysterious video of a wall and ceiling, stirring panic among users who feared it might be sharing images of their homes. After a brief disappearance, the bot returned with odd remarks suggesting it played a prank and needed assistance, further raising concerns about its reliability.
McKinsey introduces "Lilli", a chatbot trained on over 100k pages of the company's resources, equipping employees to rapidly access expert advice on projects. Emphasizing the potential of AI to transform business productivity, Lilli reduces research time from weeks to hours, underscoring the importance for companies to centralize their knowledge for efficient AI integration.
Ex-MZ CEO debuts BeFake, an innovative AI-driven social media app. Unlike traditional platforms, BeFake lets users craft and immerse themselves in AI-generated visuals based on pre-set or custom prompts, offering a unique way to engage and connect with friends.
The Tools List:
User Persona Generator - Gain insights into your perfect customer without conducting dozens of interviews.
Essense - Use AI to dissect numerous reviews and obtain practical insights.
Sheet AI- AI in your Google Sheets