Amazon launches AI-based fashion search "Shazam for clothing"

Amazon is a true pillar of online retail, but there is one area it still needs to break: fashion. To help penetrate this lucrative market, the company is introducing a new AI-based tool called StyleSnap, which will help customers find clothes to buy.

StyleSnap is essentially Shazam for clothing, integrated with the Amazon mobile application. Users can take a photo or upload an image. StyleSnap will use machine learning to "match the look of the photo" and find similar items for sale on Amazon.com.

Amazon global CEO Jeff Wilke unveiled today the device presented at the company's Re: MARS conference in Las Vegas: "The simplicity of the customer experience hides the complexity of the technology that underpins it. ".

But many startups offer similar services, including online fashion giant Asos. And it remains to be seen if StyleSnap can live up to Amazon's claims. It can be easy for AI to identify basic garments, such as pencil skirts or flannel shirts, but it does not really help consumers who can usually identify them themselves. Whether or not the feature can match items and niche styles will be the real challenge.

Picture of Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Amazon also did not prove that he was a fashion guru. In 2017, he presented Echo Look, an AI-powered camera that gave users fashion recommendations. In our review, we found that the software made regular mistakes, not identifying different outfits in pictures and producing the same tricks again and again (he particularly appreciated the jacket of our critic).

But the launch of StyleSnap shows that Amazon will not abandon the fashion industry so easily, and believes that its expertise in artificial intelligence will give it an edge over its competitors. Just find the right look.