Oh, the drama! The internet’s one-stop shop, Amazon, is internally fumbling to ride the generative-AI wave. Managers are practically begging their staff for brilliant ideas on how to incorporate ChatGPT and its AI buddies into the workplace. In fact, an internal document, cheekily titled “Generative AI-ChatGPT Impact and Opportunity Analysis,”lists a whopping 67 potential Amazon use cases for ChatGPT-type technology. So it seems they’re rather eager to play catch-up in this AI chatbot race.
It’s a tad embarrassing that Amazon, the creator of the Kindle and Alexa, didn’t release a product like ChatGPT. Their friendly rival Microsoft just so happens to own a huge chunk of ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI, and is happily integrating the technology into their own products and services. One unnamed Amazon employee even said, “Amazon must be really scared about being late on all of this.”Yikes.
Of course, Amazon’s official stance is that they’re cool as a cucumber while moving at lightning speed. They’ve been using machine learning and artificial intelligence for over 25 years in “virtually everything”they do, after all. But insiders say the company is desperately searching for ways to cash in on the AI chatbot trend, from crowdsourcing productivity ideas to launching new generative-AI-powered projects.
Employees have suggested letting ChatGPT help write their famous six-page hypothetical press releases and FAQs required before starting any product development. Other ideas include auto-generating software code, marketing materials, and offering better customer support. ChatGPT could even be utilized to predict best-sellers and figure out “what makes a video content a hit.”
Now, don’t expect Amazon to rely on ChatGPT for major customer-facing products. They’re more than capable of training their own large AI models. Amazon’s lawyers have even warned employees to be cautious when using ChatGPT at work, barring them from sharing confidential information with the AI chatbot.
It’s unclear how many of these ideas will actually turn into projects, but at least 11 internal projects have reached the prototyping stage. Suggestions include a ChatGPT-type search bar for Amazon shoppers and a security-automation tool using ChatGPT-like features.
Generative AI is indeed “all the rage right now,” as stated in an internal email about an Amazon hackathon. The winning idea for the “Best use of Generative AI”award involved a smart assistant using large language models to improve the Alexa device-setup process.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has acknowledged that generative AI is a “big area of focus”for the company, and he believes it will be a “key part of the customer experience moving forward.”So while Amazon scrambles to make up for lost time, it’s clear that they’re determined to make a splash in the generative AI world better late than never, right?
