Artificial intelligence "agents" promise to do everything from tidying up your email like Marie Kondo declutters a closet, to buying you a pair of heels based on your budget and style preferences.
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Kondo → promise → budget
Yet technology experts warn that outsourcing key decisions to AI exposes consumers to risks, potentially leading to communications errors and costing people money, while also potentially handing hackers the keys to their data.
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outsourcing → warn → data
This is particularly true when it comes to so-called agentic commerce, or relying on AI agents to make purchases for you.
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it → come → you
"It isn't mainstream yet and it's pretty risky right now, because there aren't enough guardrails in the system for people to feel comfortable with agents autonomously buying things for them,
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agents → be → them
" Matt Kropp, an AI expert with Boston Consulting Group, told CBS News.
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Kropp → tell → News
"It could potentially go buy a car, but I wouldn't say, 'Here's my credit card.'
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card → go → car
Such concerns aren't keeping some of America's biggiest companies from charging ahead with AI commerce, which they see as a new way to engage customers and to drive more sales by letting AI do the legwork for shoppers.
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AI → keep → shoppers
For example, American Express this week announced new services and protections for cardholders who make purchases using specified AI agents.
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who → announce → agents
That includes verifying the identity of an agent when it makes a purchase, according to the credit card issuer.
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it → include → issuer
The service "will protect eligible customers from charges related to AI agent error," Amex said in a statement.
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Amex → protect → statement
Amazon's agentic AI assistant, dubbed "Rufus," can track the price of products on the online retailer's platform, alert customers when the price hits a prescribed level and complete the purchase.
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price → dub → purchase
Walmart, the biggest U.S. retailer, has deployed what it calls a "conversational" AI agent named Sparky that the company says can help consumers find products, provide customer reviews and help with ordering.
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consumers → deploy → ordering
Roughly a quarter of Americans between the ages of 18 and 39 say they have tried using AI to research products or to shop, according to November data from market research firm Statista.
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they → say → Statista
What could go wrong?
The accelerating adoption of AI is also leading to mishaps.
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adoption → accelerate → mishaps
Consider what happened to Sebastian Heyneman, the founder of a San Francisco-based tech startup.
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what → consider → startup
According to the New York Times, he instructed an AI agent to secure him a speaking opportunity at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
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he → accord → Davos
The bot succeeded in landing him a coveted slot at the annual gathering of powerbrokers — for $30,000, a fee he couldn't afford.
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he → succeed → 30,000
Heyneman used a bot by Tasklet, a company that lets businesses automate routine business tasks with AI agents.
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businesses → use → agents
Andrew Lee, the founder of Tasklet, told CBS News that such problems can arise when a user prompt gives the AI conflicting instructions.
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prompt → tell → instructions
Lee also said agentic AI today is fully capable of shopping for people and doing "normal things consumers can do."
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consumers → say → things
But just because tech can do something doesn't mean it should be used in that fashion, he warned.
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he → mean → fashion
"The specific use case of shopping is not a good thing to use these systems for — yet," he told CBS News.
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he → use → News
"The agents are fundamentally hard to trust.
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agents → trust → ?
I like to control where my money goes myself, and as a business, we don't recommend that.
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we → like → that
"
The reason: Bad actors can lure AI agents into turning over a consumer's personal information, Bretton Auerbach, founder of LocalMovers.com, told CBS News.
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Auerbach → lure → News
LocalMovers.com is designed to safely interact with AI agents on behalf of customers, by vetting businesses, booking services, and guaranteeing secure payment to reduce customer risk.
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LocalMovers.com → design → risk
"If you give an agent your credit card and say, 'Go to this website and buy me something online,' there are ways to trick the agent," he said.
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he → give → agent
"It might mistake a legitimate website for a phishing website that says in big, bold, text, 'Paste your credit card number here.'"
uncertain
that → mistake → number
The Aporia
