Amazon recently unveiled its latest artificial intelligence creation – a shopping assistant chatbot named Rufus. The name comes from the company’s own corgi mascot, aiming to give the bot a friendly and approachable persona. Rufus is designed to answer customer questions, make product recommendations, and overall encourage more purchases on Amazon’s platform.

Currently, in beta testing mode, Rufus is only available to select Amazon customers. But within the coming weeks, the company plans to roll out the chatbot to more users. Accessing Rufus is simple for those with access to the beta test – just open up Amazon’s mobile app, type a question into the search bar, and a chat window with Rufus will appear at the bottom of the screen.

Amazon says Rufus can field a wide variety of shopping-related questions. For example, customers can ask for differences between product categories like trail running versus road running shoes. Or they can inquire about suitable gifts for upcoming holidays like Valentine’s Day. Rufus will scan Amazon’s extensive product catalogs, customer reviews, and Q&As to formulate answers.

The chatbot also enables asking about specific products you may be considering, such as “Is this jacket machine washable?” Again, Rufus will compile details from listings, reviews, and discussions to provide a response. Early demonstrations show that even generic searches like “coffee maker” will trigger suggested questions from Rufus, aiming to further the transaction process.

It remains to be seen whether the AI assistant proves truly useful or just introduces unwanted clutter on the screen. However, Amazon’s clear intent is to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to encourage more purchases and deepen customer engagement. As one of the first broad rollouts of an AI shopping bot, the company is betting big that Rufus will guide consumers down the path of more spending.