Uber Eats AI Assistant Simplifies Grocery Shopping
▼ Summary
– Uber has introduced a new AI feature called “Cart Assistant” for grocery shopping within its Uber Eats app.
– The feature allows users to create a cart via text prompts or by uploading a photo of a list, with suggestions based on their order history.
– Uber plans to expand the feature’s capabilities in the future to include recipe inspiration, meal plans, and follow-up questions.
– The company acknowledges the AI may make errors and advises users to verify their cart, and it will initially work with select grocery store chains.
– This launch is part of Uber’s broader push to integrate AI, utilizing both public LLM models and its own AI technology, though it did not confirm OpenAI’s direct involvement.
Navigating the weekly grocery run just got a whole lot easier with the introduction of a new AI-powered helper within the Uber Eats platform. Uber has unveiled a feature called “Cart Assistant,” designed to streamline the process of building a grocery order directly in the app. This tool aims to save users time by automating the often tedious task of searching for and adding items to their digital cart, leveraging both user preferences and advanced language models.
The assistant functions in two primary ways. Customers can type simple text prompts, much like interacting with any other chatbot, to generate a shopping list. For instance, typing “milk, eggs, cereal” will prompt the assistant to populate the cart with those items, automatically selecting a user’s preferred brands based on their past order history. Alternatively, users can upload a photograph of a handwritten or printed shopping list, and the AI will interpret the text and add the corresponding products.
This is merely the initial phase of the feature’s rollout. Uber has indicated that in the near future, Cart Assistant will gain more advanced capabilities, such as providing full recipe inspiration, creating weekly meal plans, and responding to follow-up questions. The company also plans to expand its availability to more retail partners beyond the current launch group.
As with any automated system, Uber is transparent about the potential for errors. The company advises users to review and confirm the items the assistant selects before finalizing any purchase. The feature’s availability is also currently limited to specific partnered grocery stores. At launch, it will work with retailers including Albertsons, Aldi, CVS, Kroger, Safeway, Sprouts, Walgreens, and Wegmans, with plans to add more stores over time.
The development of Cart Assistant draws on a combination of technologies. While Uber has a known partnership with OpenAI for broader app integrations, a company spokesperson clarified that the new tool utilizes publicly available large language models alongside Uber’s proprietary AI infrastructure. This move is part of a larger strategic push by Uber to embed artificial intelligence across its services. Recent initiatives include expanding autonomous vehicle partnerships for ride-hailing and testing sidewalk delivery robots in select markets. The company has also reactivated its internal AI Labs division to foster innovation using its vast repository of delivery and customer interaction data.
(Source: The Verge)
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