Online Shopping Will Never Be the Same After This

Here is what’s new in the AI world.

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Gen AI Is About to Change How You Pay Online, Forever!

The e-commerce landscape is undergoing its most dramatic transformation since mobile payments, as generative AI prepares to eliminate the final friction points in online shopping. Here's why retailers and payment processors are scrambling to adapt:

The New One-Click: AI-Powered Instant Checkout

ChatGPT's Shopping Evolution

• Currently shows product links (requiring site visits).

• Soon, enabling in-chat purchases via Shopify integration.

• Merchants to pay OpenAI commissions on sales.

First Movers

• Perplexity AI already offers PayPal/Venmo checkout in chat.

• eBay is developing hyper-personalized AI shopping assistants.

• Amazon is investing heavily in AI shopping features.

Industry Disruption Ahead

Retail Shakeup

Payment Processor Paradox

• PayPal is partnering rather than competing (see Perplexity deal).

• Banks may lose ground to AI-native wallets.

• "The game shifts from transactions to monetizing attention" (Spryker CEO Alex Graf).

Why This Changes Everything

• Roanoke College research shows that 60% cart abandonment drops when steps are eliminated.

• IBM: Only 14% of consumers are satisfied with their current checkout experiences.

The Agentic Commerce Future

1. Ask AI for gift ideas.

2. Get curated recommendations.

3. Confirm payment/shipping.

4. Check out, all without leaving chat.

Is AI Breaking Young Brains?

Younger generations, like Gen Z and Gen Alpha, are increasingly relying on AI chatbots for everything from relationship advice to health consultations. However, this growing dependence may come at the cost of genuine social connections, as face-to-face interactions diminish.

Experts warn that this trend, dubbed ‘AI psychosis,’ reflects deeper loneliness and a new coping mechanism in an emotionally overwhelming world.

A Safe, Controlled Space

Growing up in a hyper-digital era, younger individuals are naturally drawn to AI chatbots due to their constant availability and instant, non-judgmental responses, explains Arpita Kohli, a clinical psychologist at PSRI Hospital, New Delhi.

For some, AI serves as an emotional safety net, particularly for those with trauma or social anxiety, making them more comfortable with predictable chatbot conversations than real-world vulnerability.

Balancing AI Use with Real Connections

Dr. Pavitra Shankar, an associate consultant in Psychiatry at Aakash Healthcare, emphasizes the need for ethical AI design that promotes offline interactions and digital well-being policies.

To avoid over-reliance on AI, consider these tips -

• Stay Emotionally Aware: Recognize that AI lacks true empathy. Prioritize human connections to process emotions effectively.

• Limit AI for Emotional Support: When distressed, reach out to trusted friends or family instead of chatbots.

• Engage in Offline Activities: Join clubs, attend events, or volunteer to strengthen real-world relationships.

• Practice Digital Detox: Schedule regular breaks from screens to reduce emotional dependence on AI.

By balancing digital interactions with real-life connections, younger generations can maintain meaningful relationships while still benefiting from AI assistance.

Open-Source AI: The Key to Safer Tech

This rings especially true in artificial intelligence, where rapid progress unfolds daily.

While individual companies race to deploy their own AI chatbots and tools, lasting innovation in this field depends on broad collaboration, developing open, trusted AI systems that deliver accurate, safe, and reliable results.

Initially, many believed only closed, proprietary AI systems could be secure. Critics argued that open models risked misuse or instability. Yet real-world experience has proven the opposite: open-source AI fosters transparency, security, and trust by enabling collective improvement.

Why Collaboration Drives Better AI

Collaboration accelerates AI progress by bringing together diverse perspectives. Open-source models help reduce bias, enhance transparency, and give users greater control over their data, all while speeding up innovation.

McKinsey research shows that companies viewing AI as a competitive advantage are far more likely to use open-source tools, allowing them to build on existing work rather than starting from scratch.

The open-source approach thrives on global community contributions, uniting developers, businesses, and researchers.

Initiatives like the AI Alliance, founded by IBM and others, play a key role by fostering cooperation among tech creators and adopters to advance responsible AI.

By pooling knowledge and resources, such alliances accelerate breakthroughs that benefit the entire ecosystem.

Why Open AI Matters Now More Than Ever

AI development demands vast resources, data, computing power, and expertise. Open-source models lower barriers, preventing AI from being controlled by a handful of dominant players.

The AI Alliance also serves as a platform for discussions on AI policy, ensuring regulations support innovation without stifling progress.

With over 140 member organizations across 23 countries, the alliance tackles AI’s biggest challenges. Members like Databricks, which has open-sourced key tools like Delta Lake and MLflow, demonstrate how shared innovation powers real-world AI applications.

To build a fair and accessible AI future, we must ensure researchers, nonprofits, and businesses can understand and use the best AI tools. The more people engage with these models, the better we can shape AI’s evolution, safely and effectively.

How You Can Contribute

Progress in AI depends on collective effort. Businesses prioritizing AI can:

• Develop training programs to share knowledge.

• Join open-source projects on platforms like GitHub or Hugging Face.

• Create and share datasets, models, or tools that promote fairness and transparency.

The AI Alliance’s policy working group advocates for balanced regulations, ensuring open-source AI thrives. Recent contributions, like input to the NTIA’s study on open AI models, highlight the importance of keeping AI innovation accessible while managing risks.

The Future is Open

AI represents a defining moment in human progress, and collaboration will be key to its success. By embracing open models and inclusive development, we can ensure AI benefits everyone. The journey ahead is long, but by working together, we can go far.

OpenAI Models Just Got an IBM Upgrade

For the first time since 2019, OpenAI has publicly released two AI models, gpt-oss-120b and gpt-oss-20b, allowing developers and businesses to freely download, customize, and deploy them.

The larger model, gpt-oss-120b, is now hosted on IBM’s watsonx.ai platform, marking a shift from OpenAI’s previous approach of offering models only via controlled APIs like GPT-4 and GPT-4o.

Why Run OpenAI Models on watsonx.ai?

IBM’s watsonx.ai provides enterprises with a secure, flexible platform to integrate and fine-tune AI models using their own data.

The gpt-oss-120b model can be deployed in industries like healthcare, finance, and legal services, while the smaller gpt-oss-20b (optimized for consumer devices) will soon join the platform. Developers can also use these models to build AI agents in watsonx Orchestrate.

Key benefits of watsonx.ai:

• Hybrid deployment (cloud or on-prem)

• Access to multiple open models, including Meta’s Llama, Mistral, and IBM’s Granite

• Rapid experimentation with pre-built and custom tools

Model Capabilities & Flexibility

Limitations:

• Text-only (no image/audio/video processing).

• No built-in content filters; users must implement their own safeguards (IBM’s Granite Guardian can help).

Open Models Gain Momentum

This release aligns with IBM’s open, multi-model strategy, joining other widely adopted open-weight models like Meta’s Llama and Mistral. Unlike proprietary "black-box" AI, open models allow auditing, customization, and independent deployment. OpenAI’s Apache 2.0 license permits unrestricted use, even in commercial applications.

Get Started with gpt-oss on watsonx.ai

IBM’s integration empowers businesses to:

• Deploy models on their own infrastructure with full data control.

• Fine-tune for specialized use cases (e.g., medical diagnostics, financial analysis).

• Build AI applications with native tool-use capabilities.

Whether automating workflows or developing AI assistants, gpt-oss-120b on watsonx.ai offers enterprise-grade flexibility, security, and transparency.

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