As more people shop online, firms are increasingly setting individualized prices based on personal data, including purchase history, location, demographics, behavior, and biometric data. AI threatens to turbocharge such surveillance pricing, further widening the gap between privacy expectations and reality.
WASHINGTON, DC—You ask an AI chatbot to recommend a thermometer. It gives you a confident, friendly answer with a link to purchase it. What the chatbot neglects to mention is that it shared your previous queries about your sick kid’s symptoms with the recommended retailer. Armed with the knowledge that you are a parent worried about a child’s spiking fever, the retailer hikes the price.
