eBay debuts ShopBot

eBay has announced the beta debut on Facebook Messenger of its new ShopBot – a personalized shopping assistant that uses artificial intelligence to help people find deals from eBay’s listings. In a statement issued on Tuesday (17 October), RJ Pittman, Chief Product Officer at eBay, stressed that the eBay ShopBot is still in beta so it “still has a lot to learn”.

“While many shopping journeys with ShopBot will be delightful, many of them will also stump the bot and won’t work perfectly at first; that’s the nature of AI,” cautioned Pittman.

Pittman urged eBay users to give the new technology a go: “You can beta test the early beginnings of eBay ShopBot by texting, talking or snapping a picture to tell eBay ShopBot what you are looking for. The bot will then ask you questions to better understand your intent, and make personalized recommendations.”