Move over Alexa – Amazon launches AI ‘shopping helper’ called Rufus and there’s a secret meaning behind the name

AMAZON has introduced an AI-powered shopping assistant its site called Rufus.

The chatbot is designed to help people find products faster with broad research questions.

Rufus has been around in the US since February but it’s only just landed in the UK.

Of course, people will be well aware of Amazon‘s principle assistant, Alexa – which isn’t going anywhere.

Rufus is being soft-launched to a subset of customers in Amazon’s mobile app.

The tool has been trained on Amazon’s product catalogue and information from across the web, allowing it to answer any shopping queries users have.

For example, you could ask, “What do I need for making smoothies?” or request comparisons between different types of products – and even specific questions about individual items.

Rufus will appear as an icon in the bottom corner of the screen within the Amazon Shopping app, with users able to expand the chat box to see answers to their questions, as well as tap on suggested questions and ask follow-up questions.

Alternatively, users will be able to return to traditional search results at any time by swiping down to close the chat box.

However, the feedback on Rufus in the US hasn’t exactly been favourable over the last six months.

“I can’t express how much I hate Rufus,” one user wrote on Reddit.

“It’s extremely annoying,” another shopper wrote.

“Pops up at the bottom of every search and I accidentally pull it up while scrolling. Not to mention I don’t need/want this feature.”

A third dubbed it “Rufus the doofus”.

Why is it called Rufus?

There’s actually a bit of a story behind the feature’s name, Rufus.

It all relates to Amazon allowing workers to bring their dogs to the office since the early days.

One of the first canines to visit the company’s offices was a sweet pup named Rufus.