Amazon thinks that Thomas Gryta really likes beef jerky, but he himself doesn't quite understand why either.
Business Insider wrote in Slack: 'I have bought far more energy bars and vitamins than beef jerky.' He also said that his Amazon About You customer profile 'feels like accusations sent by a nutritionist with a judging tone.'
This is just one of the sensational stories that broke on Wednesday morning at Business Insider Slack. At that time, I reported that many people online were checking their own Amazon “About You” pages. People noticed that these shopping profiles made some strange, and sometimes not-so-appealing judgments; for example, they would say that a certain Amazon user had “flat buttocks,” or that another user’s husband had “very thin legs.”
In May, this e-commerce giant launched About You. This page is somewhat similar to a customer profile, as it captures customers' search history, purchase records, favorite lists, product reviews, as well as conversation information with Amazon's Alexa, for, and Shopping assistants. Amazon states that the purpose of this is to connect customers with products that better meet their needs, and shoppers also have the option to update or delete the information in their profiles.
Based on the situation in our own Slack channel, we have noticed that Amazon usually provides each person with around 30 to 45 observations. Those inferences often correctly predict transaction behavior, but sometimes their judgments about individuals are a bit off.
For co-editor Taylor Rains, Amazon seems a bit too “personal” in its preferences for movie actors.
On Wednesday, she wrote: 'One of them is: ‘I used to like Ryan Reynolds, but now I don’t like it as much.’ How does it know that?’
However, in our rather unscientific editorial department survey this time, most of Amazon's judgments were correct.
Reporter Madeline Berg said that Amazon accurately identified her as a typical Brooklyn resident who prefers glass food storage containers and organic agricultural products.
Deputy Executive Editor Taylor Berman said that his account was optimized to "bathroom safety" mode, which is likely related to the fact that he needed to use a shower chair after tearing his Achilles tendon last May (he asked me to make sure to remind readers that the other things he bought are "very cool").
Another editor with young children said that Amazon showed that she frequently purchased waterproof sheets.
Deputy Executive Editor Debbie Strong said that after the system determined she liked Hot Wheels toy cars, it identified her as a "boy's mother."
Other notable topics include: Amazon is very adept at identifying where we live (which is not surprising), what type of food we often buy at Whole Foods, and whether we have pets. Apparently, the employees at Business Insider also love buying books and Pokémon cards, although many say they buy these cards for their children. Alright.
Amazon's "crystal ball" isn't so accurate when it comes to determining family size. Several people mentioned that their About You pages incorrectly identified how many children they had. There were also errors in the details of relationships. One editor's page even mistakenly stated that he had a girlfriend named Barry.
As for me, who knows how much Amazon really knows about me – I haven’t had an account with them for many years now. Just like my colleagues, if things change, I will also share the results with everyone without any concealment.
