Can an AI Bot Do Your Shopping for You?
ABC News
ENRICHED
Details
- Date Published
- 3 Feb 2026
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 3 Feb 2026, 10:45 am
Description
AI shopping is fast becoming a reality as companies look for more and more ways to bring the technology into our daily lives.
Summary
The article explores the emerging trend of AI-powered shopping, highlighting advancements such as Mastercard facilitating Australia's first AI bot transaction, and the interest of major tech companies like Google and OpenAI in 'agentic commerce'. Although the discussion centers on consumer applications of AI, the implications for privacy and security are significant, with companies like Amazon preventing data scraping by AI bots. This exploration indicates a shift in how everyday transactions might be managed by AI, potentially redefining commerce but not directly addressing AI safety or catastrophic risks associated with more advanced AI uses.
Body
AI shopping is fast becoming a reality as companies look for more and more ways to bring the technology into our daily lives. Mastercard recently announced that it had made what it calls Australia's first transaction by an AI bot and major players like Google, OpenAI, Amazon and Perplexity are all looking at building what’s called ‘agentic commerce’ into their operations. GUEST: David Braue, technology journalist, Information Age CreditsFlint Duxfield, ProducerImage DetailsWhile many AI platforms are getting into AI shopping, Amazon has taken steps to stop AI bots from scraping data about its products from its website. (Reuters: Pascal Rossignol)Program:More from The Radio National HourShopping, AI, Retail Industry Appears In 'Silence is violence' - Indigenous leaders call for proper recognition of Perth attackDuration: 55 minutes 15 seconds55m 3 itemsIn this episode1 of 3Silence, minimisation, and indifference - Senator Thorpe slams response to Perth attackDuration: 18 minutes 35 seconds18m 2 of 3Sick and wounded Gazans offered a chance at escape with Rafah openingDuration: 17 minutes 56 seconds17m 3 of 3PlayingAre we on the bring of AI shopping? Duration: 17 minutes 49 seconds17m