Amazon has tapped artificial intelligence to summarize some of its product reviews. The feature, currently being tested, sifts through customer reviews to create lists of what purchasers like and dislike. The summaries carry the disclaimer “AI-generated from the text of customer reviews.” The move comes as Amazon is also deploying AI to weed out “fake” reviews supplied by “review brokers” who are also now able to leverage the power of AI. Amazon, which has identified phony reviews as a major problem, now uses machine learning models to detect fraudulent behavior by analyzing thousands of data points.

Brokers of bogus reviews typically rely on third-party platforms — like social media and encrypted message apps — to purchase, as well as sell and host, fake reviews. Amazon has been using AI to battle the false narratives for some time, but recently ramped up the effort, although it has been reluctant to discuss details.

“In 2022, Amazon reported more than 23,000 social media groups, with over 46 million members and followers, that facilitated fake reviews,” reports BBC News, adding that fake reviews “aren’t always easy to spot, although generic information, or a very high percentage of five star reviews can be a give-away.”

The propaganda not only hurts customers, by providing unreliable data on which to base a purchase, but also harms Amazon’s merchants, who can become targets of negative review campaigns funded by competitors.

A representative from the consumer group Which? told the BBC that some estimates peg fake online reviews as high as one in seven in the United Kingdom. Amazon has been cracking down and is making inroads, but is nowhere near solving the problem, according to the consumer group. Consumers are “more than twice as likely to choose poor-quality products” as a result of fake reviews.

“As a result of the new methods it had developed, Amazon said it had blocked over 200 million suspected fake reviews last year,” writes the BBC, noting that the UK’s Digital Markets Competition and Consumers Bill will help strengthen protections. Commonly referred to as the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, it is expected to become law in 2024.

Meanwhile, CNBC writes that Amazon’s use of AI for review summaries “could prove to be useful for shoppers,” as “Amazon has millions of products on its online store, and there can be thousands of reviews on a single item.” The company has made improvements to encourage shoppers to submit reviews, implementing a “one-tap ratings system.” And some tech-savvy consumers have begun using their own chatbots to write reviews for them.