Merchat AI is a beta experience powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence. That means that some responses may be inaccurate or inappropriate and no response should be considered an endorsement by Mercari, Inc of any product, suggestion, statement, or policy. Given the nature of AI systems like this, do not provide any personally identifiable information. You must be at least 18 years old to use Merchat AI. By using Merchat AI, you agree to OpenAI’s Privacy Policy.
What is Merchat AI?
Welcome to Merchat AI, a virtual shopping assistant to help you find your next favorite thing.
How do I access the new Merchat AI?
To experience the benefits of Merchat AI, shoppers can visit directly via mercari.com/merchat and ask questions to get gift suggestions and item recommendations from the shopping assistant. If Merchat AI needs more info, it will ask clarifying questions to narrow in on individual preferences. Once Merchat AI has enough information, it will scan the Mercari marketplace and provide recommendations to fit each unique request. Just click on the listing images to view an item in detail – you can also ask the assistant to provide more options or start a new conversation.
How is Mercari using the data collected using Merchat AI?
As this is a new technology, we are experimenting with it to enhance the user experience on our marketplace. We want to gain experience building products using LLMs (language learning models) and understand how customers use the tools we build so that we can improve the shopping and selling experience on Mercari. Mercari will use data users input into Merchat to continue to improve the experience for all users.
How is Merchat AI different from messages on Mercari?
The Merchat AI beta shopping experience currently allows users to converse with the AI to get item recommendations and gift suggestions based on personal preferences. Our existing Mercari chat feature allows shoppers and sellers to converse with each other regarding listings on the marketplace.
What are the benefits of using Merchat AI?
Merchat AI uses LLM (large language models) to understand your questions and responses to enhance your shopping experience by offering personalized item recommendations. Traditional text-based search engines and recommendation systems sometimes fail to deliver contextually-aware results, so shoppers need to know what they’re searching for. By leveraging the power of a large language model, we can create a more sophisticated and personalized shopping experience for you.
Is Mercari moderating the content used in Merchat AI?
We have limited the type of content to be shown within the Merchat AI tool and will be updating these limits on a regular basis. However, AI is an emerging technology and some responses may be inaccurate or even weird, and Merchat’s responses do not represent Mercari’s official policy or view on any matter. If you find any problems or issues with the tool, please contact us via our help center: mercari.com/us/help_center/contact/
What happens if Merchat AI makes a mistake? Can I redirect it?
Yes, you can simply ask Merchat AI to provide alternate recommendations or start a new convo requesting different items. You can also start over with a new Merchat AI session.
What other uses is Mercari exploring with ChatGPT, GPT-4 or other LLMs?
We don’t have any further releases to share at this time, however, as technology continues to advance, we’re always investigating new ways to make the buying and selling experience for secondhand items even better for you.
I want to report a problem/concern with Merchat AI. How can I do that?
For longer experiences with Merchat AI, we have included a survey for your feedback on the feature. If you don’t receive the survey, please contact us via our help center: mercari.com/us/help_center/contact/
Does Merchat know, show, or share any of my personal information?
No, there is no personally identifiable information available within Merchat AI. You should not share personally identifiable information within Merchat. If you find a problem with your Merchat AI experience, please contact us via our help center: mercari.com/us/help_center/contact/
Why can’t I access Merchat AI on the Mercari app?
We are experimenting with the Merchat AI beta to start but as we learn more, we hope to expand the use of the tool.
Can I use ChatGPT to create my listings?
Merchat AI does not currently offer a seller experience. To create a listing, head to Mercari.com and sign in/ sign up to list. Please reference our terms of service and the terms of service for any third-party services used to create your content.
How does Mercari limit any bias/discrimination from Merchat AI results?
Merchat AI responds to the questions and information that you input, however, we have put guardrails in place around certain types of keywords to return a generic response if inappropriate information is provided. If you need to report an issue, please contact us via our help center: mercari.com/us/help_center/contact/
Is there a limit for how many characters I can use to ask Merchat AI a single question?
Yes, you have 250 characters available for every question you ask.