Chatbots stories

More consumers now treat generative AI as an everyday aide and even a companion, using it for routine decisions despite trust concerns.

Wesfarmers has struck a multi-year deal with Google Cloud to deploy agentic AI across Kmart, Officeworks, Priceline and OnePass stores.

Shoppers shun online baskets over high delivery fees and clunky checkouts as retailers plough cash into loyalty schemes and shiny AI tools.

Capita slashes time-to-hire by 43% and speeds HR admin by up to 80% after rolling out Workday AI, HiredScore and Teams integration.

Glasgow’s British Youth International College relaunches Olivia 2.0 AI to coach children’s problem-solving and host a free chatbot workshop.

AI is turning romance scams into industrial-scale fraud, with deepfakes and chatbots driving billions in losses, Tenable warns.

Indosat unveils 27 AI-driven tools to digitise Indonesia’s supply chains, targeting fleet tracking, cold chain control and smart facilities.

Oracle has embedded free prebuilt AI agents across its Fusion apps to automate CRM and supply chain tasks from campaign design to logistics.

AI shopping assistants win over UK and US consumers, but most abandon tools instantly when product suggestions feel irrelevant or pushy.

UK retailers brace for GBP £1.05bn in post-Christmas returns as fashion fit woes, social commerce and ageing habits strain logistics.

NTT DATA’s 2026 foresight flags six AI trends driving an ‘age of mass intelligence’, reshaping autonomy, security and chip sovereignty.

Australians are turning to AI for romance and emotional support as dating app scams soar, with social engineering behind most threats.

Moltbook, the all-bot social network, faces scrutiny after researchers reportedly accessed its live database and user emails without checks.

Animoca partners with CryptoSlam’s Ethoswarm on Animoca Minds, a cloud platform for always-on AI agents aimed at non-technical users.

AI-powered tools are rapidly reshaping UK retail as most shoppers embrace chat-based assistants and retailers ramp up investment for 2026.

8x8 reports triple-digit growth in AI voice and messaging for CX, as contact centres scale automation beyond pilots across channels.

AI companions are edging into the mainstream, prompting doubts over whether digital pets could reshape - but not replace - traditional pet ownership.

Lonely UK daters increasingly turn to AI companions even as romance scams surge, with rising losses and growing trust in chatbots over humans.

Pearson says US could gain up to USD $6.6 trillion from AI by 2034, but only if employers urgently invest in reskilling and task-level redesign.

Big banks and AI leaders signal they will layer new AI tools on top of, not instead of, core enterprise software systems.