Amazon has started experimenting with a new shopping feature that adds AI-generated voice hosts to product pages, offering spoken summaries of items. This innovation, currently being piloted in the U.S. for select users on Amazon’s mobile app, aims to simplify product research by delivering quick highlights drawn from product details, reviews, and customer insights.
The tech giant describes these AI voices as “shopping companions,” likening them to friendly guides who talk users through potential purchases—essentially mimicking a casual conversation to make online shopping more engaging. Each voice introduction clearly mentions that the content is generated by artificial intelligence.
The feature works by pulling key information from various parts of the product page, including customer reviews. However, considering Amazon’s ongoing struggle with fake and manipulated reviews, some studies suggest over 40% of product reviews might be inauthentic questions remain about the reliability of the information being presented by these AI hosts.
To try out this new feature, users can tap the “Hear the highlights” button for eligible products, such as certain kitchen appliances, skincare items, and headphones. Amazon has confirmed that the feature will gradually expand to include more items and reach more customers.
While the concept could benefit individuals with visual impairments or those who prefer audio content while multitasking, initial impressions suggest that the audio summaries aren’t necessarily faster than traditional browsing. In fact, manually reading through key features and reviews might still be quicker for most users.
Though it may not revolutionize shopping behavior, this new tool is another example of how companies are integrating AI to enhance digital retail experiences. Whether it gains widespread acceptance or simply becomes another niche experiment remains to be seen.
For Indian e-commerce players, this move underscores a broader trend: blending voice-driven AI with online shopping interfaces could be the next big leap in customer engagement—especially in a multilingual market where regional voice support could make shopping more inclusive.
