Google's Solution to Terrible Online Shopping Is Having an AI Bot Buy Stuff on Your Behalf
From keyword-infested product pages that are impossible to parse to scalpers using bots to snatch up coveted limited-edition releases like the Nintendo Switch 2 or the latest Labubu drop, online shopping has become a terrible experience. Funnily enough, Google believes it can make buying things online less crappy with what's basically an AI bot that shops on your behalf.
At I/O 2025, Google Vice President and General Manager of Ads and Commerce Vidhya Srinivasan—a role that also oversees shopping—announced several new ways to shop with Google using AI to 'improve' purchasing stuff.
The first AI-infused shopping feature is part of Google's new AI Mode and asks shoppers to use Gemini AI to offer suggestions and inspiration. For example, you may have a certain colored couch in your living room, but maybe you're not an interior designer or have poor taste in choosing room decor. No problemo! Just point your phone's camera and tell Gemini AI to, 'Find some furniture to brighten up the room.' And boom—just like that, you can scratch your inner Martha Stewart and tell all your friends what a natural you are the next time you have them over for dinner.
AI Mode shopping will be available in the U.S. 'in the coming months.' Who's ready to buy stuff they don't need because Gemini AI keeps sharing inspo and making you feel bad that all your stuff is old? I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe Trump's tariffs may be a good thing for helping us buy less (and generating less waste long-term).
Next is a feature called 'Try it on' that, as its name suggests, lets you try on clothes virtually. But this isn't like the 2010s, when every tech company was seemingly trying to figure out how to use augmented reality to superimpose digital clothes onto you like a virtual mirror. Friend, it's 2025, so naturally, Google needs to use AI to generate an avatar of yourself wearing clothing. Google says you simply upload 'a single photo' of yourself, then its AI will render a 3D version of your body wearing clothing created from product images.
According to Srinivasan, the clothing on your rendered avatar has realistic fabric physics, folding, draping, and stretching just like it would if you tried something on in real life. 'We spent a lot of time working with a custom image generation model that is tailored for fashion, and it has a deep understanding of 3D shapes,' Srinivasan told media, including Gizmodo, during a video briefing prior to Google I/O. You can even share your avatar trying on outfits with friends to get their opinion.
This is just another way to fuel consumerism. More concerning than buying stuff you don't need because it looks good on a 3D avatar is what it means to have a 3D body profile saved to your Google account. Even setting aside privacy, Google's asking you to render what needs to be an honest and realistic version of your body shape in order to accurately superimpose digital clothing on top of it. Obviously, digital clothing is going to render differently on a skinny person versus somebody who is heavier. How does constructing that body profile work, and how does the AI know what your body looks like from just a single image upload? Not to be that guy, but what if I got a nice rump but the selfie I uploaded doesn't highlight that? Sounds a little creepy to take a photo of your body and hand it over to Google just for shopping. And what if you go through body transformations? Maybe you might lose weight or get jacked because you're trying to 'focus on yourself' after a breakup. You have to keep your 3D avatar updated with your latest physique in order for you to get a lifelike depiction for clothing try-ons? I have so many questions, and Google hasn't shared any answers yet.
'Try it on' starts rolling out in Google Search Labs today, May 20, in the U.S.
Last, we have the least exciting of the new AI-based shopping experiences, but it's arguably the most useful—agentic checkout. What? Agentic shopping—you know, using an AI 'agent' to shop on your behalf. It's like having your own personal shopper. Per Google, agentic checkout lets you set a desired price or select a specific color or size for something that you want to purchase. When that product becomes available with your preset requirements, the AI agent will cart it on your behalf on a merchant's website and fill out all the necessary billing and shipping information—and then complete the checkout through Google Pay. Automation!
This agentic checkout sounds great. Gone will be the days of having a dozen merchant tabs open and smashing the refresh button over and over. That being said, I could also see online shopping getting worse if we're all 'botting.' It'll just be bots fighting bots in virtual waiting lines to buy things for us. Ugh. I guess we'll see how this shakes out when the feature rolls out in U.S. in the 'coming months.'
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