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YesLike insults, fights are most effective when they are highly personal. Getting a gift right – seeing the joy in someone’s eyes or the lump beginning to rise in their throat – can provide such a satisfaction that many of us, excited as we are, secretly lurk throughout the year, noting down the items or experiences our family and friends have mentioned and, tossing innocent thoughts aside, prepare for a special occasion.
Famously, it is thought It matters, which is why I was a little horrified when I saw the AI model chatgpt And Google Gemini is advertising new shopping features designed to take the effort and original thinking out of the gift-giving process – just in time for the festive panic of 2025. merry ChristmasEveryone. Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Now we are using AI medical advice, Treatment, friendship and even LoveWhat’s a little personal shopping assistance when your girlfriend is already a robot?
Our dependence on AI has already been prophesied to make us more foolish (Grief). However, sadly, it can also make us less thoughtful. In fact, a 2025 survey found that 71 percent of us are planning to use AI to select our Christmas gifts this year – a staggering 40 percent increase from 2024’s number.
“My family is having ChatGPT select gifts for our gift exchange this Christmas. Are we serious?” One person complained on X/Twitter. Another user said, “We need to make the use of AI to trace individual gifts a social crime.” A third person said, “I don’t even give gift cards or cash as gifts because I feel it’s too impersonal.” The idea of using AI to choose gifts is soul-crushing to me. But, elsewhere, users praised the process. “It’s the sign that counts,” one person joked.
This proves itself to be true when I take shortcuts to get around. “Think about gifts for Dad” returns a selection of £6 mugs decorated with the word “Dad” (creative!) and a Cadbury chocolate gift basket. But after entering various personal details about them, I was given a suggestion I hadn’t really thought about. My father is a simple man. He loves Chelsea FC, jazz music and living in South West London. Within a few clicks and reangles, ChatGPT asked me to take her to the 606 Club in Chelsea, where they serve a Sunday lunch for families that’s more casual than the late-night offerings — classy and discreet.
However, it fails when it comes to my mother. I want to buy her some nice knitwear and illustrate her sense of style and the budget I’m working with – but all the options are bland and boring. The fun thing about shopping for clothes is that when you’re browsing, you see things you may have never discovered or originally planned to buy. You just look at it and think, that’s them. So, it’s best that I let my analog take the wheel with this. Unless I want to be impressed on Christmas morning by saying “Oh…it’s, er, nice.”
Although it is the wide choice of styles and colors that often makes personal shopping fun and surprising, research suggests This is why there are so many options now available that may lead us to ChatGPT in the first place. One study found that a large assortment of products is a major contributor to making us experience “choice overload”, which increases shopping anxiety and makes us less likely to actually make a purchase. A search for “blue jumper” on Asos produces over 500 options.
moreover, studies have shown The more fearful we are about buying gifts, the more likely we are to mess up by buying trend-based gifts instead of gifts with personal or sentimental value. Enter AI to scold you for any co-worker, distant family member or neighbor you barely know, and is it uff, or eww?
Surprisingly, Debrett, the purveyor of all things etiquette, isn’t actually opposed to AI gift giving. Director Rupert Wesson says, “I would argue that the process of current purchasing is less important than the outcome, so there’s no shame in seeking help anywhere and everywhere.” “After all, if you’re struggling to buy a gift, it’s better to seek help and achieve spectacular success than to struggle alone and still fail.” Still, he adds: “Don’t expect miracles. After all, AI is not capable of thought and for that reason it is unlikely to provide original, highly personalized and ultimately thoughtful gifts.”
But then, in the heat of the street rush of nervous Christmas shoppers, are any of us? Fundamentally, ChatGPT and Google Gemini don’t know your (really) close loved ones any better than you do, but AI can be a good helping hand. However, give in to your full gift-giving mind and you too might end up with a £6 “DAD” mug. Best wishes for a merry Christmas.
Have you used ChatGPT to help with Christmas shopping this year? Let us know how it happened