Over-the-top praise for an item should ring alarm bells, with fake feedback generated by AI, bots and humans on a mass scale

You’re doing a spot of online Christmas shopping and see an air fryer that is competitively priced. You don’t recognise the brand, but the reviews are fantastic – five-star raves that say things such as “this product changed my life” and “this is the greatest air fryer ever”.

You buy it, but when it arrives it is clearly cheap and poor quality, and possibly dangerous, too.

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© Photograph: World Images/Alamy

© Photograph: World Images/Alamy

© Photograph: World Images/Alamy

Several new start-ups are building replicas of sites so A.I. can learn to use the internet and maybe replace white-collar workers.

Several new start-ups are building replicas of sites so A.I. can learn to use the internet and maybe replace white-collar workers.

New tools and features from retailers and tech companies use artificial intelligence to help people find gifts and make decisions about their shopping lists.

© Janet Mac

After unexpectedly strong sales and profits across its consumer and cloud businesses, the tech giant said another strong quarter might be ahead.

© AJ Mast for The New York Times

The company is looking to slash costs by “reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources” as it continues to spend aggressively on artificial intelligence.

© Karsten Moran for The New York Times

Meet Sparrow, Cardinal and Proteus. They’re the robots that, step by step, are replacing human workers in the company’s warehouses.

© Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Internal documents show the company that changed how people shop has a far-reaching plan to automate 75 percent of its operations.