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Amazon is preparing to develop and implement a new “search” feature for its online store with a ChatGPT-like interface.
A pair of job postings, first spotted by Bloomberg, outline the company’s plans, making it clear that Amazon intends to reinvent its longtime search feature.
In the list of vacancies “Senior head of the technical program” the company indicates:
“We are working on a new AI-driven initiative to re-engineer and reinvent the way we search using next-generation extremely large-scale deep learning methods.”
The pay for this position, which requires at least seven years of experience working directly with engineering teams, ranges from $119,000 to $231,400 per year, depending on the candidate’s location.
A second job listing, this time for “Sr SDE, Machine Learning (ML), Amazon Search” with pay ranging from $134,500 to $261,500 per year, adds more information. It explains that the initiative will be a “once-in-a-generation search transformation” and that the company intends to immediately provide customers with:
“We’re reimagining Amazon Search with interactive communication that helps you answer product questions, compare products, get personalized product deals, and more to easily find the perfect product for your needs.”
Taken together, the messages make it clear that the company plans to introduce major changes to how its Search product works.
Related: Amazon implements AI to improve logistics and delivery speed
It should also be noted that Amazon recently introduced its own “Bedrock” artificial intelligence base models. Bedrock was designed as a “free” AI service, allowing customers to create their own ChatGPT-like models.
Together with Bedrock, Amazon’s own chatbot service “Titan” was announced. Company vice president Bratin Saha told reporters that Amazon is using a “tuned version” of Titan to display search results on the company’s homepage; it’s unclear if this is related to recent job postings. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
The timing of these announcements is not surprising. Movement in the field of generative AI has been rapid since OpenAI launched its ChatGPT service in March.
So far, aggressive growth seems to be paying off. Generative AI technology appears to be affecting almost every industry, from journalism, where several media outlets have experimented with AI-generated reporting, to cryptocurrency and blockchain. In the latter sector, almost every segment of cryptocurrency and blockchain development, trading and community interaction has been affected by generative AI.
Related: Irish newspaper apologizes for misleading AI-generated article
