Shopping moving from brick and mortar to online was truly revolutionary. Compare a few taps on your phone to getting in your car, getting gas, driving to store, locating item, waiting in line, paying, getting back in your car, etc and the time savings are astounding. And there are still brick and mortar stores everywhere because a lot of people simply like to shop and browse all the options.

I just don’t see the need to trust ChatGPT to do my shopping for me. Earlier today at a red light I searched for something I needed on Amazon, found a good option and ordered it all before the light turned green. Maybe for cheap things that don’t matter or commodities it would be fine to just tell ChatGPT or Alexa to order something for you but it’s really not that revolutionary compared to what we already have. If OpenAI is going to get a cut of every transaction, they’ll just make the purchase that secures the highest commission for them. This is akin to telling google to buy the first ad in their search results for you. Do a lot of people make a purchase with the I’m feeling lucky button sight unseen?

Ok so maybe you don’t like the first option the chatbot gives you and it presents the next one…and the next one…then we’re basically back where we started at that point?

I prefer to spend an extra few seconds comparing the options so I know what I’m getting and I’m not even someone who enjoys shopping. I think ChatGPT will be game changing for a lot of things but not for online shopping.