"Your phone buzzes at 6 a.m. It's ChatGPT: "I see you're traveling to New York this week. Based on your preferences, I've found three restaurants near your hotel. Would you like me to make a reservation?" You didn't ask for this. The AI simply knew your plans from scanning your calendar and email and decided to help. Later, you mention to the chatbot needing flowers for your wife's birthday. Within seconds, beautiful arrangements appear in the chat. You tap one: "Buy now." Done. The flowers are ordered."
"This isn't science fiction. On Sept. 29, 2025, OpenAI and payment processor Stripe launched the Agentic Commerce Protocol. This technology lets you buy things instantly from Etsy within ChatGPT conversations. ChatGPT users are scheduled to gain access to over 1 million other Shopify merchants, from major household brand names to small shops as well. As marketing researchers who study how AI affects consumer behavior, we believe we're seeing the beginning of the biggest shift in how people shop since smartphones arrived. Most people have no idea it's happening."
"For three decades, the internet has worked the same way: You want something, you Google it, you compare options, you decide, you buy. You're in control. That era is ending. AI shopping assistants are evolving through three phases. First came "on-demand AI." You ask ChatGPT a question, it answers. That's where most people are today. Now we're entering "ambient AI," where AI suggests things before you ask. ChatGPT monitors your calendar, reads your emails and offers recommendations without being asked."
AI shopping assistants are changing commerce from user-initiated search to proactive suggestion and automated purchase. Agents access calendars, emails, and preferences to surface recommendations and complete transactions instantly through protocols linking platforms and payment processors. The evolution moves from on-demand responses to ambient suggestions and toward autopilot purchasing with minimal user input. This progression delivers convenience and frictionless access to many merchants, but it also reduces consumer control and creates new risks related to manipulation, privacy, consent, and transparency as AI gains greater decision-making power over everyday spending.
Read at The Conversation
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