The AI battle among super apps has truly begun, and the competition is intensifying rapidly. Taobao has quietly introduced a fascinating new AI feature that caught my attention during a recent shopping spree for my new home.

While browsing for household items yesterday, I discovered a brand-new AI functionality on Taobao that had never appeared before. This feature has been given significant prominence, appearing on all product listing pages. Called "Taobao AI Assistant," it's located in the bottom-right corner of product listings with an "AI Help Me Choose" icon. The feature appears to be in beta testing, as friends I asked hadn't gained access to it yet.

After experiencing this feature, I prefer calling it an "AI Shopping Guide." As a typical male shopper, I have clear goals but fuzzy criteria. For instance, I knew I needed a clothes drying rack for my new home - that much was certain. However, my knowledge about drying racks ended there. I was completely clueless about what type to buy.

After searching for the keyword, I felt overwhelmed. The variety was staggering - different designs, shapes, and features that I couldn't comprehend. This exemplifies my shopping approach: clear objectives but unclear parameters. I know what I need but have no idea what specific type to purchase or how these various designs differ functionally.

Approaching 30, I'm increasingly less interested in researching purchases. This is why I gravitate toward brands like Xiaomi and Jingzao - they eliminate choice paralysis. However, selecting a drying rack still required some decision-making, and this is where the AI assistant proved invaluable.

Clicking the "AI Help Me Choose" button in the bottom-right corner opens a new interface that asks a series of comprehensive questions: Where will you dry clothes? How much laundry do you typically have? What length do you prefer? What functions do you need? What's your budget? Any special requirements?

The thoroughness was impressive. Each option was clickable, making the process interactive. Questions included: Do you primarily dry clothes on a balcony or indoors? Do you mainly dry daily clothing or need to handle bedding and heavy coats? Do you prefer 1.5-meter or 1.8-meter-plus large capacity? Do you prioritize foldable storage or adjustable height? It even considered aesthetic preferences like simple solid colors versus luxury textures.

Honestly, I had no interest in learning about wing-type designs, manual lifting mechanisms, or 304 stainless steel specifications just to buy a drying rack. I simply wanted to dry clothes, not become a drying rack expert.

Many users likely share this sentiment - disliking browsing, avoiding unnecessary learning, and wanting to solve problems efficiently without wasting time. Taobao's logic behind this feature is understandable.

Previously, Taobao felt like a massive retail warehouse where you had to browse and compare items individually before making decisions. This shopping method created significant psychological burden and choice costs for users like me.

Taobao's AI assistant resembles returning to a concierge-style shopping guide found in department stores, except this guide is AI-powered, infinitely patient, and professional. There's no concern about eye-rolling or being pushed toward inferior products. It transforms intensive active searching into relaxed passive responses - a delightful experience.

This approach particularly suits male consumers like me and increasingly lazy user demographics. I genuinely believe this product deserves the "AI Shopping Guide" label.

Over the past decade, purchasing items required traditional keyword-based searching, demanding prior knowledge of specific terminology and functionality. Users needed expertise to search effectively or interpret results meaningfully.

AI search solutions like Perplexity, Secret Tower AI, and DeepSeek's connected search addressed some keyword matching barriers, allowing direct need expression. However, in e-commerce, I often can't articulate exactly what type of "drying rack" I need.

The more omnipotent AI becomes, the more bewildered users feel. AI shopping guidance offers an excellent solution for users like me who shop to solve problems rather than explore. For me, shopping isn't about discovering the unknown - it's about quickly and accurately resolving issues.

Under AI guidance, I purchased additional items, including a living room trash can. Having converted my living room into an office with predominantly walnut-colored items, I wanted a matching walnut-colored trash can. Normal searches yielded unappealing results at unreasonable prices - who spends 250 yuan on a trash can?

Rather than continuing to browse, I used "AI Help Me Choose." After selecting various options, I found a 7-yuan wooden-grain trash can that matched my budget and complemented my walnut furniture.

Recently deciding to improve my appearance through skincare while losing weight, I wanted to buy essence water. My only requirement was better skin. AI shopping guidance provided numerous options, and despite not understanding why it asked about single bottles versus value sets, I made selections. Setting a skincare budget of 500-1000 yuan, the final recommendations seemed reliable.

Friends' reactions were simply: "Impressive."

Besides the bottom-right icon on listing pages, there's another way to trigger the AI assistant. After searching and browsing product streams for about four screens, a small card appears on the fifth screen with three questions. Answering these leads to the AI assistant page for selection help.

This interaction design is brilliant - when users feel overwhelmed after scrolling through multiple screens, the AI assistant helps clarify their needs. However, with fewer questions, this method provides less comprehensive information, requiring potential second-round conversations. I prefer the direct entry method.

The "AI Help Me Choose" feature represents a particularly intelligent strategy. With Taobao's product overflow, connecting suitable products with appropriate consumers while preventing decision paralysis has been challenging. This AI solution elegantly addresses the problem by reducing user decision costs while improving product conversion rates.

Some friends asked about situations with unclear goals but specific criteria - like choosing gifts for a 30-year-old anime enthusiast friend's birthday. For such needs, I'd recommend using AI search instead. Taobao's search bar opens to "AI Universal Search" for direct inquiries.

Search results proved excellent, generating nostalgic recommendations like JoJo, Gundam, Hunter x Hunter, Detective Conan, and Demon Slayer figures. My 30-year-old anime friend was moved to tears by the suggestions.

Users can choose between these AI functions based on their needs: "AI Help Me Choose" for clear goals with fuzzy criteria, and "AI Universal Search" for specific needs with unclear targets.

Recently, major companies have finally begun AI transformations of their core products. As AI wheels of fate roll forward, artificial intelligence integration through super apps is gradually entering mainstream visibility.

The battlefield entry of super apps like Taobao, WeChat, Meituan, Quark, TikTok, and Weibo represents tremendous momentum for AI popularization. Previous e-commerce AI attempts focused on merchant cost reduction and efficiency improvement through intelligent customer service, sales development, and product selection prediction, with limited consumer-facing applications.

The genuine AI e-commerce trend will inevitably migrate toward users. E-commerce fundamentally sells efficiency - past decade transformations including live streaming sales, short video shopping, and community recommendations all aimed to reduce user decision costs.

E-commerce plus AI will follow this path, advancing toward cognitive reduction and lower shopping barriers, enabling users to make purchase decisions more easily and cost-effectively with AI assistance.

Not wanting to browse, choose, or learn probably represents the authentic experience of lazy male users like me when shopping. Leveraging its shopping expertise, Taobao has created something genuinely different - a valuable and innovative consumer-facing e-commerce plus AI attempt.

I eagerly anticipate more super apps implementing additional AI functionality, as they represent the crucial final mile in delivering AI to the masses.