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Facebook and Amazon’s AI-selected ads show how businesses can tailor products to consumers in future

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Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction. Illustration: Giordano Poloni

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer the stuff of science fiction.

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Anyone online appreciates the uncanny sensation that their activity is being tracked based on the pop-up ads that reflect their latest searches. For good or ill, this is AI in action.

“The impact of AI is already visible in everyday life,” Giulio Chiribella, a University of Hong Kong academic and visiting professor at the University of Oxford, says.

“The advertisements you see on your Facebook timeline are chosen by an algorithm that is designed to guess what you may be interested in.

AI is already visible in everyday life: Facebook adverts you see are chosen by an algorithm designed to guess what may interested you; the history of your Amazon purchases is used to guess what you may buy in future
Giulio Chiribella, academic, University of Hong Kong

“A similar story applies to online shops such as Amazon where the history of your purchases is used to guess the items you may be interested to buy in the future.”

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Chiribella says Facebook and Amazon’s use of AI illustrates how businesses can use AI to create ties to their customers and offer products that are tailored to their individual preferences.

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