In the ever-evolving digital landscape, avoiding advertisements has become a daunting task, and now, AI-powered chatbots are joining the fray.

Amazon has recently announced that it will commence serving targeted ads through its AI-driven shopping assistant chatbot, Rufus, in a move that is set to redefine the user experience and advertising landscape.

As stated in Amazon's September update to its Amazon Ads platform, "To facilitate product discovery within Amazon's generative AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, your ads may appear in Rufus-related placements." Furthermore, "Rufus may generate accompanying text based on the context of the conversation."

The update was first spotted by AdWeek.

According to Amazon, Rufus will serve ads based on the information users provide, tailoring them to the user's search terms and the conversation they're having with the chatbot.

Rufus, initially launched earlier this year and rolled out across Amazon to all users in July, provides in-depth product information, personalized recommendations, and comparisons in a conversational format, leveraging the knowledge base available on Amazon's product pages.

As noted by TechCrunch, this isn't the first instance of an AI chatbot being used to serve advertisements. Last year, Microsoft began testing ads in its own AI chatbot, Copilot.