Do You Trust AI to Shop for You? Credit Card Companies Are Betting You Do
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AI will soon be able to make purchases based on preferences it learns about you. You just need to hand over your credit card. Visa and Mastercard both announced last week that their cardholders will be able to use artificial intelligence to automate credit card purchases for groceries, travel and everything else.
Visa confirmed to CNET that testing for its new Visa Intelligent Commerce program is underway in North America, with widespread usage expected next year. Mastercard's Agentic Payments Program, similar to Visa's offering, is currently available in the US.
"Soon people will have AI agents browse, select, purchase and manage on their behalf," Visa's chief product and strategy officer, Jack Forestell, said in the press release. "These agents will need to be trusted with payments, not only by users, but by banks and sellers as well."
However, trusting AI isn't always an easy ask. It's often made news since its introduction for misleading responses and "hallucinations," fabricating information or operating in unexpected ways. Asking it what toppings to add to your pizza is one thing, but giving AI your financial information could have serious consequences. What happens if an AI agent hallucinates and makes a purchase worth hundreds of dollars, or is fed a scam link to a phishing site?
Additionally, it's unclear how shopping recommendations will be delivered and vetted by these services. AI recommendations can be helpful so long as they're accurate and don't have ulterior motives.
ChatGPT also announced last month that it is adding shopping features to its ChatGPT Search. However, ChatGPT's product doesn't purchase the items for you.
These AI agents could make it easier to find products, cutting down on the time you're researching and saving you a click or two, but you might not have the same confidence in the purchase if you did it yourself.
What is AI-powered shopping?
Visa's and Mastercard's new programs are designed to use AI to learn your buying habits and customize your shopping experience. But they take this a step further, allowing you to authorize AI to make purchases on your behalf.
As an example, Mastercard said if you're planning a party, the AI agent will recommend supplies, outfits, venues and vendors based on your preferences and conversation, then ultimately make the purchases for you.
It's unclear how the AI agent will determine the best product for you, or whether companies can pay to have their products promoted.
Both programs are tokenized for security, which basically means your credit card information is replaced with a one-time-use key so the AI agent doesn't use your actual credit card info. It's similar to using a virtual card number.
Visa and Mastercard said that you won't need a new credit card to take advantage of the new AI tools, and you can set up controls, such as spending limits and purchase restrictions.
Both companies said their existing credit card fraud protections extend to the AI agents, along with any dispute resolution.
Does anyone really need AI-powered shopping?
While some implementations of generative AI are helpful and solve issues in everyday life, not all things need to be automated with AI.
At least on the surface, the biggest benefits of these new AI agents are tailoring a custom shopping experience and cutting down on time spent researching and ultimately checking out.
While those improvements could indeed be convenient, they could also make spending money even easier since you need less time to complete the purchase. The agent could also connect you with products that might not be what you'd normally purchase without its suggestion that could lead to credit card debt.
Beyond learning your shopping preference, most of the other features are already available in some form.
Bill payments and subscriptions can already be automated without the need for AI to purchase things on your behalf. You can already use generative AI like ChatGPT to help narrow down product offers if you so choose, or check Google reviews yourself to find the right fit.
Your personal data, like how you shop, is also a hotter commodity than many people realize, and consent to use it shouldn't be given away lightly.
Is it safe to use AI-powered shopping?
While Visa and Mastercard fraud protections extend to these AI purchases, past issues raise the question of whether you should hand over your financial information to AI.
It's one thing when an AI hallucinates extra fingers on a generated image or presents something as a historical fact that never happened. But you should be especially cautious when it comes to spending your money and sharing personal habits, at least for now.
"Trusting these tools to make any financial decision for you, no matter how small, carries some risk that they won't do what you're expecting them to do," CNET senior AI editor Jon Reed said.
"If you do decide to use these tools, make sure to keep a close eye on your financial accounts and transactions to spot anything unexpected before it becomes a bigger problem."
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