Thus far I didn't have to worry about ChatGPT having bad incentives when giving me advice on product purchases. Now that "Merchants pay a small fee on completed purchases", will the model steer me towards ACP-supported retailers at a higher rate?
So what would a 'hallucination' be in this context? An order for a half ton of toilet paper? If I know ChatGPT gets things wrong, why would I trust it to shop for me?
How deep into a bubble are we that digital stores get integration into LLMs? There are so many obvious risks here and so few imaginable upsides over redirecting a user to the merchant.
Meh. Meta recently got rid of their instant checkout product for Instagram and Facebook where customers could buy products directly from a companies FB or IG page. Nobody was using it. I would imagine it will be the same situation here.
So, if I'm understanding this correctly. The latest ChatGPT features are... That it can now message me without me talking to it, and can automatically buy things for me.
I’ve got more money than I know what to do with and now, thanks to OpenAI, I’ve found the perfect custom-built solution: an AI agent ready to spend it for me.
ChatGPT: I've found the following Python books that contain explanations of how to complete that task. Which one would you like to purchase?"
"None. I just want an answer."
ChatGPT: Ok, perhaps you were looking to purchase a python. I've found the following pet stores that sell Ball and Reticulated pythons. Which one would you like to purchase?"
"Merchants pay a small fee on completed purchases, but the service is free for users, doesn’t affect their prices, and doesn’t influence ChatGPT’s product results. Instant Checkout items are not preferred in product results."
The incentives are very strong to prefer instant checkout items.
I realize a lot of the comments here are pessimistic, but this is a pretty obvious monetization path that they just can't not take. This is actually a huge angle IMO. ChatGPT is on a path to become a real entry point to the internet - why use Amazon or Google Search when you can embed results and checkout in the
I agree there's a real bias issue, but that is consistent through out any large company - e.g., Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc have sponsored results
Yeah, it’s a very sensible feature to add. Obviously lots of users are making “please recommend a <product>” queries, it’s a usecase where deep research really shines.
So if your users are spending a lot of time on a tasks, why not make it more delightful?
Of course, you need to make sure you don’t allow accidental purchases, that would be the way you destroy trust. But assuming a clear intent to purchase is established, then I think this will be well-received.
> but this is a pretty obvious monetization path that they just can't not take
Now that they are a commercial entity, you are right. If they had remained on their original mission path though I suspect this wouldn't be the no-brainer it is now.
Add bias to the bot though, right? I don’t want GPT shilling its wares to me, motivated by whatever it thinks the most likely to convert item or the item with the greatest fee is.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 80.5 ms ] threadStripe post: https://stripe.com/blog/developing-an-open-standard-for-agen...
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/a... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45262858)
Yet another protocol
How deep into a bubble are we that digital stores get integration into LLMs? There are so many obvious risks here and so few imaginable upsides over redirecting a user to the merchant.
This will replace the current ad economy.
ChatGPT: I've found the following Python books that contain explanations of how to complete that task. Which one would you like to purchase?"
"None. I just want an answer."
ChatGPT: Ok, perhaps you were looking to purchase a python. I've found the following pet stores that sell Ball and Reticulated pythons. Which one would you like to purchase?"
"Aaaaaarrrrrrrggggghhhhhhh"
The incentives are very strong to prefer instant checkout items.
I agree there's a real bias issue, but that is consistent through out any large company - e.g., Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc have sponsored results
So if your users are spending a lot of time on a tasks, why not make it more delightful?
Of course, you need to make sure you don’t allow accidental purchases, that would be the way you destroy trust. But assuming a clear intent to purchase is established, then I think this will be well-received.
Now that they are a commercial entity, you are right. If they had remained on their original mission path though I suspect this wouldn't be the no-brainer it is now.
Search engines used to be very useful too until the endless profit a/b testing boiled us all