New report suggests growing acceptance of AI in Canadian shopping habits

A new study suggests Canadians are open to artificial intelligence helping them with their shopping. CTV’s Dave Charbonneau reports.

More than half of Canadian shoppers say they are open to using artificial intelligence to complete a purchase for them, according to a new report, which also suggests AI is quickly becoming part of how Canadians shop.

For Drew Roberts, shopping with artificial intelligence is an idea he is willing to consider.

“Well, I mean, it’s not a horrible idea, I would say,” said Roberts, a student.

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Roberts says the process can be a chore, and technology is already changing how he buys things.

“I guess it’s definitely time consuming, doing the shopping. They do have the apps now and some places you see that it’s just pick-up, right,” he said.

His thoughts line up with a new report by payments company Adyen on shopping habits in Canada.

The report found 51 per cent of Canadians are open to artificial intelligence completing a purchase for them, and 30 per cent say they are already using AI when they shop, up from 11 per cent last year.

One technology analyst says convenience is a big part of the appeal.

“You know, we want it to be easier. We don’t want to have to open up all these different apps and different websites and, you know, compare all sorts of different things on our smartphone in the middle of a store. Instead, we want to just tell it with a prompt, ‘go find me the best deal on this product,’” said Carmi Levy.

According to the report, 45 per cent of Gen Z and 44 per cent of Millennials in Canada use AI when shopping.

But not every shopper is sold on the idea.

“No,” said Zoe Fyhn, a student, when asked if she would ever use AI for her online shopping.

“I just don’t like using AI,” another student said.

“No, I will not use AI at all,” said shopper Chrisy Tremblay.

“At this point, I’m not sure I have a need for it,” said shopper Mitch Casselman.

Others say they use AI, but only in limited ways.

“I use ChatGPT to ask, ‘what is the difference between two products?’ And it will give me all the details about those products,” said student Hichem Benmalek.

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Retail analyst Bruce Winder says trust depends on where the data comes from.

“If you’re on Amazon, they have their own built in AI agent called Rufus, which is 100 per cent accurate because it’s all their data. But if you’re not on Amazon and you’re shopping through some of the other places, or even searching through ChatGPT or what have you, there is still questions about the accuracy of the data,” Winder said.

And that is where some experts say shoppers should still use caution.

“Once we add AI into the mix, do we trust these AI tools to ensure that our information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands and allow them to compromise us, either financially or by stealing our data?” Levy said.

“And so because AI is so much more powerful than previous generations of technology, the risks are even more prevalent, and we probably might want to do even more due diligence before we allow AI agents to shop for us.”