Google has firmly rejected allegations from a prominent consumer advocate that its forthcoming Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) for AI-powered shopping agents could enable data-driven overcharging. The claims, sparked by a viral social media post, have ignited debate over privacy and pricing in the era of artificial intelligence.
Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, warned that the protocol integrates shopping into Google’s AI tools like Search and Gemini, potentially using chat data for ‘personalised upselling’ to inflate prices. The tech giant, however, insists the features are designed to enhance user choice and value, not exploitation.
Coding AI will do things you expressly forbid it from doing that irreversibly harm you. I can’t imagine shopping AI is going to be any better, between buying bullshit you didn’t ask it to, to spending all your money until your card declines instead of adhering to the budget you gave it.
It seems to me that it is better to use instead of an expression - in the era of artificial intelligence - in the era of the threat from artificial intelligence, and to add: from those who promote it at any cost for profit.
Hasn’t it already objectively been used to facilitate an indirect syndicate and subsiquent price fixing in the retail market? I fail to see why other markets would be any different.
Here’s some documentation: https://developers.googleblog.com/under-the-hood-universal-commerce-protocol-ucp/
What this does is if offers a API for agents to communicate with online stores: check products, apply coupons, process transactions and so on. And the critics say that this will be used to funnel more data about the user to the store so it can “adjust” prices. Which is nothing new. Companies already are using all the data they can get their hands on to screw you. If you’re naive enough to give data about to you AI bot controlled by a corporation and then send this bot to a store controlled by another corporation to do shopping for you then yeah, you will be screwed.
Cory Doctorow is right.
The dream of big tech is social media without socialising, search engines without searching, online shopping without browsing.
“Just empty your wallet into our bank accounts, peasant”
Why would they be doing it otherwise?
Do not give Google or any AI your credit card number.
“Enhance users choice”. Even if I assumed good intentions, what the hell is a chatbot going to do??
Just tell us how you are going to prevent this abuse, and how your policies forbid it. It’s easy Google. Just do that and you will quiet all concerns.
I mean, not really…their policies are subject to change at any time to whatever they see fit. Their track record doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that they won’t abuse it.
Pressing X now
