Mozilla Enlists Fakespot for AI Chatbot to Safeguard Online Shopping

Mozilla’s arrival on the AI battlefield comes via its acquisition of ecommerce review watchdog Fakespot. With Fakespot Chat, the global non-profit rooted in 25 years of web browser development, promises users greater integrity and transparency and fewer fake reviews.

“Fakespot Chat will guide you as you’re shopping by answering your questions with trust already built-in,” Mozilla said in an official blog post. Mozilla’s introduction of Fakespot Chat as its first large language model (LLM) clearly demonstrates the company’s ongoing interest in AI and its practical applications for improving user experience.

Historically, Mozilla has not shied away from embracing tech trends, even those as volatile as cryptocurrency. Despite the mixed feedback from its community, which led to halting crypto donations, Mozilla has continued to press forward.

Fakespot Chat is the latest notable integration of AI in a web browser. Every major web browser maker has implemented some type of AI functionality: Microsoft Edge includes access to GPT-4 and DALL-E 3, Chrome is a major front end for Bard, Opera has a built-in ChatGPT feature, and Brave just introduced Leo.

In the case of Fakespot, the popular tool is ironically using AI to fight against AI to restore trust where it has been eroded.

“Fakespot doesn’t do this by having an army of its own reviewers reviewing the reviews,” Mozilla explained. “It uses a sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) system to detect patterns and similarities between reviews in order to flag those that are most likely to be deceptive.”

Using Fakespot Chat is straightforward, ensuring users can easily leverage its capabilities to enhance their shopping experience. Simply add the Fakespot extension to your browser—Chrome, Firefox, and Safari are supported—and let the AI handle the vetting process.

Once installed, Fakespot Chat seamlessly integrates with the most popular ecommerce sites, allowing you to analyze products and their reviews with a click. The chatbot interface will prompt you with smart questions and provide clear, concise responses, helping you make more informed purchasing decisions.

When you land on a product page, for example, Fakespot Chat springs into action, analyzing the available reviews and data to provide a streamlined summary. It highlights the pros and cons, giving you a snapshot of what real buyers think.

“Stop trying to find the needle in the review haystack—ask Fakespot chat exactly what you want to know, and it will answer based on the same reviews you used to skim,” Fakespot’s official site reads.

Fakespot Chat’s design is user friendly and is available through the browser extension or native apps for Android or iOS. The company says the tool does not compromise user privacy.

As online shopping becomes increasingly the norm, the demand for reliable review verification tools grows. Even though AI detection tools are often unreliable, having a serious brand behind an AI review validator may give consumers the confidence boost they need before clicking the “buy now” button.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.