Amazon is introducing AI-generated product images into its shopping app search results, displaying synthetic visuals beneath autocomplete suggestions to help users who struggle to describe what they are looking for. A search for a blue gingham dress, for example, might surface several AI-illustrated style variations that users can tap to refine their results.
The feature has drawn immediate scepticism. Critics argue it is potentially misleading, as shoppers may mistake the fabricated images for actual available products, and question why a retailer with millions of real product photographs would substitute generated ones instead.
The launch is part of a broader AI push across Amazon’s shopping experience. Recent additions include AI-generated shoppable collages, Amazon Lens Live for camera-based visual search, and the replacement of the Rufus AI chatbot with an Alexa-powered shopping assistant capable of handling natural language queries. Amazon also already uses AI to summarise customer reviews and produce audio product briefings in a podcast format.
Together the updates reflect Amazon’s accelerating effort to embed generative AI throughout its retail platform, even as some applications attract more enthusiasm than others.
