Amazon is preparing to develop and implement a new "Search" feature for its online web store that has a ChatGPT-like interface.
Two job postings first spotted by Bloomberg detail the company's plans, which make it clear Amazon intends to reinvent its long-standing search feature. In the job listing for "Senior Technical Program Manager," the company says:
"We're working on a new AI-first initiative to re-architect and reinvent how we do search by using next-generation deep learning at very large scale." The position requires at least seven years of experience working directly with engineering teams, and annual salaries range from $119,000 to $231,400, depending on the applicant's location.
A second job listing, this "Senior SDE, Machine Learning (ML), Amazon Search" position with an annual salary between $134,500 and $261,500, added more detail. It explained that the initiative will be a "once-in-a-lifetime change" in search," and that the company intends to immediately offer customers: "We're reimagining Amazon Search with an interactive conversational experience that helps you find answers to your product questions, compare products, receive personalized product recommendations, and more, making it easier the y to find the perfect product for your needs."
Combined, the posts make it clear that the company plans to make advanced changes to how its search feature works. It's also worth noting that Amazon recently launched its own "Bedrock" artificial intelligence (AI) foundational model. Bedrock is designed as a "serverless " AI service that allows customers to build their own ChatGPT-like models.
Amazon's own "Titan" chatbot service announced alongside Bedrock. Bratin Saha, a corporate vice president, told reporters that Amazon has been using a "fine-tuned version" of Titan to display search results on the company's home page; to the recent job postings. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for more information.
The timing of these announcements is no surprise. The field of generative AI has been moving fast since OpenAI launched its ChatGPT service in March. The aggressive growth appears to be paying off so far. Generative AI technology appears to be impacting nearly every ind ustry from journalism to cryptocurrency and blockchain, where several media outlets have experimented with AI-generated reporting. In the latter realm, nearly every part of cryptocurrency and blockchain development, trading, and community interaction has been influenced by generative artificial intelligence.
