Amazon Launches Generative AI-Powered Chatbot for Businesses
The new chatbot can synthesize content, streamline day-to-day communications, and help employees with tasks like generating blog posts.
Amazon has announced the launch of a new business chatbot called Q, which is powered by generative artificial intelligence. The chatbot is still in beta, but it is available for preview by a limited number of businesses.
Q can do a variety of things, including synthesizing content, streamlining day-to-day communications, and helping employees with tasks like generating blog posts. It can also be connected to a company’s data and systems to get a tailored experience that’s more relevant to the business.
The chatbot responds to rivals who have rolled out chatbots that have captured the public’s attention. That attention initially gave an advantage to OpenAI’s chief partner and financial backer, Microsoft, which has rights to the underlying technology behind ChatGPT and has used it to build its own generative AI tools, Copilot. But it also spurred competitors like Google to launch their versions.
These chatbots are a new generation of AI systems that can converse, generate readable text on demand, and even produce novel images and videos based on what they’ve learned from a vast database of digital books, online writings, and other media.
Amazon said Tuesday that Q is currently available for preview. While the company is ahead of rivals Microsoft and Google as the dominant cloud computing provider, it’s not perceived as the leader in the AI research that’s led to advancements in generative AI.
A recent Stanford University index that measured the transparency of the top 10 foundational AI models, including Amazon’s Titan, ranked Amazon at the bottom. Stanford researchers said less transparency can make it harder for customers who want to use the technology to know if they can safely rely on it, among other problems.
The company, meanwhile, has been forging forward. In September, Amazon said it would invest up to $4 billion in the AI startup Anthropic, a San Francisco-based company that was founded by former staffers from OpenAI. The tech giant has also been rolling out new services, including an update for its popular assistant Alexa so users can have more human-like conversations and AI-generated summaries of product reviews for consumers.
Overall, the launch of Q is a significant step for Amazon in the generative AI space. The chatbot has the potential to be a valuable tool for businesses, and it could help Amazon to close the gap with rivals in this area.
Also read:
Amazon is the most trusted online shopping platform for 72% of customers
