AI Can Now Shop For You, Date For You, and Watch Your Neighbors
PLUS: Design AI Transparency That Builds Trust
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📅 October 17, 2025 | ⏱️ 3-min read
🎯 The big picture
AI just crossed into your daily life in ways that would have seemed impossible a year ago. Today’s developments aren’t about what companies are building—they’re about what you can actually do right now. Shop through ChatGPT, control what AI content you see, and know when you’re talking to a bot. The “future of AI” is officially your Tuesday afternoon.
📊 Today’s lineup
• You can now buy groceries by asking ChatGPT to shop for you at Walmart
• California just made it illegal for AI chatbots to pretend they’re human
• Pinterest lets you block AI-generated images because people are tired of fake content
• Dating apps are using facial recognition to verify you’re real (and it’s creeping people out)
• Amazon Ring wants to remember your neighbors’ faces automatically
1️⃣ You can now buy groceries by asking ChatGPT to shop for you at Walmart
What’s happening:
• Walmart partnered with OpenAI to let you shop directly through ChatGPT using a new “Instant Checkout” feature
• You can ask ChatGPT to “order ingredients for chicken parmesan” and it will curate a shopping list, compare products, and complete the purchase without leaving the chat
• The AI remembers your dietary preferences, past purchases, and budget to make personalized recommendations
What’s so great about this: Shopping just became as easy as texting a friend. Instead of browsing websites, comparing prices, and navigating checkout forms, you can literally say “I need healthy snacks under $20” and have them ordered in seconds. This isn’t a gimmicky feature—it’s how millions of people will actually shop within months.
What’s next: Other major retailers will rush to integrate with ChatGPT and competing AI assistants. The brands that make shopping conversational first will capture customers who are already tired of traditional e-commerce browsing.
Go deeper: CBS News
2️⃣ California just made it illegal for AI chatbots to pretend they’re human
What’s happening:
• California signed SB-243 on October 13, 2025, requiring all companion chatbots to clearly disclose they’re artificial intelligence
• The law specifically targets apps and services designed to form emotional connections with users to prevent people from believing they’re talking to real humans
• Companies must include clear, prominent disclaimers that users are interacting with AI, not real people
What’s so interesting: This law acknowledges something most people already suspected—AI has gotten so convincing that you literally can’t tell the difference anymore. California recognized that people are forming real emotional attachments to AI assistants and need protection from being deceived about what they’re actually talking to.
What’s next: Expect similar laws in other states as AI becomes more human-like. Companies will need to balance making AI helpful and conversational while clearly marking it as artificial. The era of “stealth AI” customer service is officially over.
Go deeper: PPC Land
3️⃣ Pinterest lets you block AI-generated images because people are tired of fake content
What’s happening:
• Pinterest added new feed controls letting users restrict generative AI imagery in select categories like home decor, fashion, and food
• Users can now personalize their feeds to see more human-created content and less AI-generated images
• The feature responds to creator complaints about “AI slop” flooding the platform and making it harder for real artists to be discovered
What’s so interesting: This is the first major platform to let users actively choose less AI content. Pinterest realized that while AI can create impressive images, people often want authentic, human-made inspiration for their real lives. When planning a wedding or redecorating a room, you want photos of actual spaces, not AI fantasies.
What’s next: Other platforms will likely follow with similar controls as users demand more authenticity. The novelty of AI-generated content is wearing off, and people are starting to value human creativity again.
Go deeper: TechCrunch
4️⃣ Dating apps are using facial recognition to verify you’re real (and it’s creeping people out)
What’s happening:
• Multiple dating platforms are implementing facial recognition verification to combat catfishing and fake profiles
• Users must take real-time selfies that are matched against their profile photos using AI to confirm they’re the same person
• The technology has become a new surveillance front with concerns about how biometric data is stored and used
What’s so interesting: Dating apps have become the latest battleground between safety and privacy. While everyone wants to know their matches are real people, facial recognition technology creates permanent digital fingerprints that could be used for tracking far beyond dating. The trade-off between authentic connections and biometric privacy is now something every single person has to consider.
What’s next: Expect heated debates about biometric verification becoming standard across social platforms. Users will have to choose between enhanced safety features and maintaining biometric privacy.
Go deeper: Biometric Update
5️⃣ Amazon Ring wants to remember your neighbors’ faces automatically
What’s happening:
• Amazon Ring is developing a “familiar faces” feature that uses facial recognition to automatically identify people who regularly visit your home
• The system would learn to recognize family members, friends, delivery drivers, and neighbors without requiring manual tagging
• Privacy advocates are raising concerns about surveillance expansion and the creation of neighborhood facial recognition networks
What’s so interesting: Your doorbell is about to become smarter than you at recognizing people. While this could be genuinely helpful for identifying regular visitors versus strangers, it also means Amazon is building detailed databases of who visits which houses. The convenience of automated recognition comes with the reality that your movements around the neighborhood are being tracked and stored.
What’s next: Home security will become more automated but also more invasive. Neighbors may start opting out of Ring-enabled areas, creating digital privacy zones in residential neighborhoods.
Go deeper: Mashable
⚡ Quick hits
• Meta launches Movie Gen AI that creates personalized movie recommendations based on your mood → streaming discovery just got dramatically more accurate
• California enacts nearly a dozen new AI privacy laws → consumers get stronger protection against AI manipulation and data misuse
• Consumer Reports finds 47% of consumers fear AI-generated code → trust in AI-powered apps is declining as security concerns grow
💡 CX Prompt Tip of the Day
Design AI Transparency That Builds Trust
I need to create clear, honest AI disclosure that makes customers feel informed and respected, not deceived or manipulated.
Context: Our [customer service/sales/support] AI interacts with customers who have different comfort levels with AI technology. Some love it, others are skeptical, and many are somewhere in between.
Your task:
1. Create disclosure language that feels natural and conversational, not legal or robotic
2. Design different disclosure approaches for different interaction types (chat, voice, email)
3. Build trust-building language that explains what the AI can and cannot do
4. Create transparency about when customers will be transferred to humans
5. Design customer choice mechanisms—easy ways to opt for human help immediately
Format your response: Natural Disclosure Scripts → Channel-Specific Approaches → Capability Transparency → Human Handoff Language → Choice Architecture
Focus on making AI interaction feel honest and empowering, not sneaky or overwhelming. Customers should feel like they’re choosing AI assistance, not being tricked into it.
Quick win: Test your current AI interactions. If customers can’t immediately tell they’re talking to AI, you’re probably crossing the line from helpful to deceptive.
🤔 CX reflection
Today’s question: If you could buy groceries through ChatGPT but had to let Amazon’s doorbell remember every face that visits your house, would the convenience be worth the privacy trade-off? What does this tell us about the customer experience choices we’re asking people to make?
(Hit reply—I read every response and often feature insights in future editions)
👋 See You Monday,
Mark