Big box chains have proudly embraced artificial intelligence — but don’t expect them to help when their AI assistants charge your card for hallucinated garbage.
That trend, in which retail giants force their AI initiatives on consumers while distancing themselves from its failures, is growing. While that attitude certainly isn’t unique to big box stores, it’s increasingly becoming their default setting, revealing the ridiculous double standard baked into the AI boom.
Target is the latest to jump on the bandwagon. According to Business Insider, the Minnesota-based retail corporation recently updated its terms and conditions to make it clear that customers — not the company — would be responsible for the failures and hallucinations of its upcoming AI shopping assistant.
That virtual buddy, which runs on Google’s Gemini, is supposed to help online shoppers finish Target runs on their users’ behalf. Under the new terms, if a customer uses the Gemini agent to do their shopping for them, any transaction performed by the AI would be “considered transactions authorized by you.” Translation: any mistake by the AI agent — whether it buys the wrong item entirely, or a super expensive version of the right one without your consent — will come out of your pocket.
“You are responsible for reviewing activity performed by your Agentic Commerce Agent and for promptly notifying the Agentic Commerce Agent and Target of any activity you believe is unauthorized or outside the scope of permissions you approved,” the new terms state.
If that weren’t enough proof that Target doesn’t stand by its product, it gets more explicit: “Target does not purport to guarantee that an Agentic Commerce Agent will act exactly as you intend in all circumstances. You should review orders, account activity, and settings regularly.”
Speaking to BI, a Target spokesperson confirmed that the updated language is a nod to the coming Gemini assistant, but caveated that customers are still welcome to try to return their purchases, same as ever.
The company joins other retail giants like Walmart in rolling out AI shopping agents that it openly distrusts. Walmart, which recently outraged consumers with AI-powered price gouging, also updated its terms of use to cover for mistakes made by its AI shopping assistant, Sparky.
“Due to the nature of Generative AI, the information, responses and recommendations generated for you and other users through Generative AI Features… may not be accurate, complete or up-to-date and may be misleading or contain errors and omissions, or the Generative AI Features may misunderstand the Content that you input… and may be responding to a different question than asked,” the company’s new policy states. “None of these sources have been verified by Walmart.”
More on AI agents: Watchdog Issues Grim Warning About Letting AI Run Your Life
The post Target Warns That If Its AI Shopping Agent Makes an Expensive Mistake, You’ll Have to Pay for It appeared first on Futurism.
