Walmart executives say new AI tool 100 times more productive

( NewsNation ) — Walmart executives say their new generative AI model has been successful in helping rewrite product listings as they also prepare to roll out a new shopping assistant using the technology.

In a second-quarter earnings call for the fiscal year, Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon told investors the company had used multiple large language models to create or improve over 850 million pieces of data in its product catalog.

“We’re finding tangible ways to leverage generative AI to improve the customer, member and associate experience. We’re leveraging data and large language models from others and building our own,” McMillon said. “Without the use of generative AI, this work would have required nearly 100 times the current headcount to complete in the same amount of time.”

The data generated by the AI tools can help associates find products by quickly accessing images of packages. Additionally, customers using Walmart’s AI assistant will soon receive follow-up answers to their questions, helping them find the exact item they are looking for, according to McMillon.

Walmart unveiled its plans to integrate AI into the customer experience in January, also announcing it would be expanding its drone delivery notice.

The country’s largest retailer had provided a glimpse into “InHome Replenishment” earlier in the year, which aims to use AI to learn consumers’ shopping habits and keep them stocked on their favorite groceries, as well as a beta platform that allows customers to create outfits virtually and get feedback from their friends.

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