Amazon is creating AI-generated 'podcasts.' Do we need them?

[0:00] So have you ever wanted your own personalized review online? [0:03] Well, now you can get it, sort of. [0:06] Amazon is launching this new feature [0:08] that uses AI to generate short podcast-like audio segments [0:13] where two hosts discuss the merits and reviews [0:16] of a specific product. [0:18] Here's an example. [0:20] Today, our AI-generated shopping show [0:22] is exploring the Levoit Core 300P air purifier. [0:26] Tell me, what makes this one special [0:28] compared to others on the market? [0:31] What really sets this one apart is its AAHAM verification. [0:35] That's basically the gold standard for air purifiers. [0:38] The testing shows it can clean the air [0:40] in spaces up to 1,073 square feet, [0:44] which is pretty impressive for its compact size. [0:48] Well, my next guest actually took a deep dive [0:51] into the technology and calls it [0:52] the world's least necessary podcast. [0:56] Katie, no nonsense, Notopolis is a tech [0:59] culture correspondent at Business Insider. [1:02] All right, Katie, tell us how it works. [1:05] Let's go. [1:07] So on certain products, it's not every product on Amazon, [1:10] but you'll notice certain products on the image [1:13] will have a little black button beneath the image that says, [1:16] listen to an audio overview. [1:18] And when you tap that, it'll start playing what sounds like a podcast. [1:22] So it's two hosts talking back and forth, [1:26] and they're discussing various different things related to the product. [1:30] It's all based on things in the product description, [1:33] also a lot of the user reviews. [1:35] So they'll say, users think this product is blah, blah, blah. [1:39] And you can even ask it questions, and they'll stop and they'll say, [1:44] oh, we've got a question from Katie. [1:46] Let's take this and listen. [1:49] So there's an example that I think you can play. [1:53] Zoe, what makes this stapler stand out from others on the market? [1:57] Well, this model hits a sweet spot between functionality and practicality. [2:01] It has a 25-sheet capacity, which is pretty standard. [2:04] But what's nice is that it comes with 640 staples right out of the box. [2:09] All right, next up, we've got Katie asking if this stapler jams. [2:12] Zoe, what's the story there? [2:14] Great question. [2:15] According to customer reviews, jamming is actually pretty rare with this one. [2:19] Several people specifically mentioned that it doesn't jam. [2:24] All right, is this something that we really need? [2:25] And come on, a stapler, really? [2:30] I think you've asked the right question. [2:33] Do we really need this? [2:35] You know, how difficult is it to decide on a stapler, right? [2:40] How many questions do you need to ask? [2:42] And do you need a podcast to answer that? [2:45] And for a stapler, no. [2:46] I do think that there are certain products, you know, more expensive products, electronics, [2:52] things that people actually might have a lot of questions about, where it is kind of helpful. [2:56] And there's so much information on the Amazon product page. [2:59] You've got, like, a ton of stuff in just the pure product description that comes from the [3:04] manufacturer. [3:05] You also have sometimes hundreds of user reviews. [3:08] And it's hard to sort of tell, like, is this actually going to be the right product for me? [3:14] So I guess I can sort of understand Amazon looking to solve a problem, which is that it's [3:18] kind of confusing to shop on their own page, which, to be fair, is a little bit of a problem [3:22] of their own making, right? [3:24] But does anyone want to listen to these for fun? [3:27] No. [3:29] I have to admit, for the more complicated decisions, because sometimes there are so many choices, [3:35] and I usually look, OK, does it have a 4.0, a 4.3, a 5.0 rating? [3:40] And then, you know, there is so much stuff to read. [3:42] And sometimes it is easier just to kind of press a button and listen to folks talk about it. [3:48] But I guess, where's the information coming from, right? [3:51] How's Amazon getting the info for AI to use? [3:55] And can that be trustworthy? [3:58] That's a great question. [3:59] So a lot of it is synthesizing stuff that's on the page. [4:02] So it's the product description. [4:03] It's the user reviews, which, you know, then again, take those with a grain of salt, right? [4:07] But in theory, we've already learned how to discern whether or not we trust user reviews. [4:12] But it is also taking in information from just around the web. [4:16] So that actually may include reviews on other websites, for example. [4:20] You know, it may include a government recall information about a product or something. [4:27] So there potentially is a wide range of stuff where it's getting this. [4:32] It's also not Amazon's first foray into this. [4:35] They currently have a chat bot that you can just directly chat and ask your questions instead of listening to a podcast. [4:41] You know, I've tried the chat bot. I didn't have much luck with that. [4:44] All right. So what do you think that this says about just the future of AI in our lives? [4:51] I think this is a kind of example of big companies like Amazon are just throwing a lot of things against the wall a little bit. [4:59] She's a good TV, by the way. [5:00] They want to see what works. [5:03] Hey, we've got an AI tool. We can do this. Why not? [5:06] I also think it does speak to something which is honestly pretty true, and a lot of people might relate to this. [5:12] Is it sometimes easier to listen to information and in a podcast format than it is to read it, right? [5:18] I like listening to history podcasts. [5:21] It's probably more fun than reading a dry Wikipedia page. [5:24] So I think that they're a little bit trying to accommodate that. [5:27] But at some point, like, are we degrading our information so much by doing this? [5:33] Katie, great stuff. Appreciate you. [5:35] I hope you'll come back. You're keeping us honest. Thank you. [5:39] Thank you.