In its initial responses, ChatGPT did not provide any links to the products. But it made them readily available when I asked, and although I didn't click on every one, it didn't appear that any nightmareCloud, on the other hand, apologized and said it “can't actually link directly to websites or products.” Anthropic has not yet released a web search feature for the cloud, but the company says it is working on it.
This technically made Claude the least useful chatbot I tested for shopping. But it also means that Anthropic has so far avoided venturing into the ethically dubious territory of allowing its AI chatbots to scrape human-written product reviews from the web. Instead, the cloud compares its product based on its existing data set. Perplexity, on the other hand, says that thanks to Buy with Pro, people “no longer have to scroll through countless product reviews.”
When I asked Perplexity what I should get for my editor/musician friend, he recommended a solar bike light set (I also noted he was a cyclist). It wasn't a bad idea, but not exactly a milestone-birthday worthy gift. I kept changing my prompt. What about personalized leather guitar straps? I went down the rabbit hole.
Perplexity's goal in promoting its shopping features, I was beginning to understand, wasn't just to help me brainstorm new ideas or give super thoughtful gifts. Perplexity is playing a long game, slowly diverting our attention from competing corners of the web, gaining a better understanding of how people like me are using its platform, and using that data to power its ever-evolving Funneling into AI models. Every time I needed to refine my searches because the initial results were often lacking, I remained in Perplexity's app, which meant I wasn't on Amazon and wasn't on Google (though eventually I Reached both those sites). Perplexity Pro is not a full ecommerce site, nor is it an “agent” in any real way yet, but I am one of millions of people providing the information needed to make those things happen.
When I turned to Google's Gemini, I found that the gifts it suggested for my 16-year-old niece weren't bad, just non-creative and, in one instance, confusing. It said I should buy her a “cat blanket to snuggle up with a good book,” but it wasn't clear whether the blanket was for her or her cat. The Kindle was a good idea. But I'm terrified of what messages she'd send me if I sent her the SAT prep book recommended by Gemini (probably “Thanks,” nothing else). The app ideas for my editor/musician friend were equally uninspiring, among them “vinyl records” and “high quality headphones.”
i was using years old gemini versionBut earlier this month, Google started releasing a new version, Gemini 2.0, to developers and a limited number of testers. The company's new AI model will “think several steps ahead and take action on your behalf.” They sayFor now, that means taking action on the part of developers – executing the next step in their coding workflow – but I eagerly await the day when it can make a dent in my shopping list.
ChatGPT eventually led me to an online spice store where I bought some special baking ingredients for my friend who, at this point, I had set my mind on becoming a finalist. The Great British Bake-Off. In the end, I interacted with the AI ​​bots for so long that many of the gifts I selected wouldn't arrive until after Christmas. My niece will get cash in a card. My search for a friend's birthday milestone gift was inconclusive. I decided to complete this task by January, this month would be full of innovation and agentic determination.