Everybody talks about the race to AGI, but there’s another race happening right under our noses.
Several companies are competing to build AI products that create and sell perfumes — the latest of which comes from Estée Lauder. The chatbot, developed by Google Cloud and made for luxury fragrance brand Jo Malone London, prompts customers with questions about the kind of fragrance they are looking for, with flowery language that helps users imagine smells. “Are you drawn more to the deep, grounding notes of woods, the cozy embrace of spices, or perhaps the rich, opulent warmth of amber?” it asked when Semafor tested it. The model eventually narrows down the essence of a customer’s preferred scent and suggests a handful of products for purchase.
The tool is the latest by a beauty company attempting to digitize shopping experiences that have traditionally been best suited for in-person excursions — a tall order for fragrances that often costs more than $100 per bottle. But according to The Wall Street Journal, online shoppers who use the AI tool buy products at nearly twice the rate as those who don’t.