I Tried Meta AI’s Shopping Assistant, and I Won’t Be Using It Again

I tend to go out of my way to avoid using Meta AI, but today I gave it a good shake. Indeed, as Bloomberg reports, Meta’s AI service is currently testing a sales assistant. The idea is to compete with similar AI platform services like ChatGPT or Gemini, where users harness the power of generative AI to search the web for product recommendations. This is all well and good in theory, but in terms of execution, Meta AI’s shopping assistant is a bit of a disaster, even though it’s still in the testing stage.

When I tried to access the Meta AI web app while logged out, I didn’t see the shopping wizard. But once I logged into my meta account, a number of additional options appeared, including “Shopping.” When you click on the option, a new “Shopping Search” option appears in the template chooser, next to “Reflection” and “Quick”. Although you can enter your own prompt into the search bar, a number of suggestions also appear below. At that point, I see things like “Help me find a signature scent,” “Show me some mid-century modern living room furniture,” or “Find a unique gift for my friend.” Finally, AI is here to help you spend money when you can’t find anything to buy.

I was quite intrigued by this last prompt. Meta AI doesn’t know my friend, and yet it’s going to find me a “one-of-a-kind” gift that he’ll love? I had to see what the bot would come up with. After Meta AI thought for a moment (11.6 seconds, or so it told me), the bot did indeed confirm my suspicions, asking for more information about my friend. It needed details like hobbies and interests, budget, and special memories that I could incorporate into the gift. You’d think my own gift ideas would arise from thinking about these questions myself, but I needed the AI’s help, so I came up with the following made-up answers to test them: “Their hobbies and interests are music, biking, and going to the movies. My budget is $100. We went on vacation to Hawaii and missed our flight home.”

The AI ​​thought for 45.8 seconds, before coming back with its “one-of-a-kind” gift ideas. His favorite was something that combined my “friend’s” interest in music and our fake vacation to Hawaii: a ukulele. One of a kind, indeed. Meta AI felt that “a ukulele starter kit is the perfect way to bring the island vibes home. The Kala Learn to Play Ukulele Concert Starter Kit is a great fit for your budget and includes everything they need to get started, including lessons and a tuner. It’s a great hobby for a music lover and a direct connection to Hawaii.” Other unique gifts included three different types of portable speakers. THANKS.

“For movie buffs,” Meta AI suggested a scratch-off poster of 100 films that everyone should see. Or, as a “subtle nod to our trip,” a movie poster shot in Hawaii. This, I admit, is a little more unique, although I would never buy this. After going through a few bike accessories, I really struck gold:

“A custom Hawaiian shirt would be hilarious,” the generative chatbot told AI.
Credit: Lifehacker

After failing to find a perfect gift for my fake friend, I next tried a personalized prompt: “I need a new sofa for my living room.” It was a little more useful. The bot returned a list of five different sofas, each with a description of the design and brand, in addition to a carousel of 12 sofas of varying prices. To narrow things down, the robot asked me a few questions about my home and my interests, like the size of my living room and the style I was going for. I sent the bot the following: “My living room is 200 square feet. I want a modern leather sofa for under $2,000.” This resulted in what seemed like a relevant list of sofas, each within budget and style. I also discovered new brands that I didn’t know about before researching, like Article and Poly & Bark.

Finally, I asked Meta AI to help me find a new MacBook. I said I needed something quick, but under $1,200. He thought about it, then brought back three decent options: a 13-inch M4 MacBook Air for $999, a 15-inch M4 Air for $1,199, or an M3 MacBook Air with additional storage for $1,030. There is nothing wrong with these suggestions, but I found two problems with the result. First, the link to this third MacBook Air recommendation wasn’t actually to a listing, but to the homepage of Abed Tahan, a store based in Lebanon. A quick search of the site returned results for the M3 MacBook Air in question, but it was more expensive than Meta AI said, And the store does not ship to the United States. Second, I asked Meta AI if these results were the latest, newest models, and it confirmed that they were, despite the fact that Apple announced new M5 MacBooks this morning. If the bot was working on a limited knowledge base, that would be one thing, but it searches the web for every request. He should be able to find this information.

Although Meta AI’s shopping assistant has some apparent benefits, like its ability to find furniture to fit a particular room size and style, I’m confident I won’t use it. The fact that some product links don’t actually work and can’t reliably provide you with the newest products on the market defeats the whole purpose of a shopping tool. I will stick to my usual shopping search: a traditional search engine combined with real user experiences.