Prime Day Is Just Black Friday’s Smarter, Creepier Twin, Says AI

Amazon Prime Day, once just a two-day digital chaos fest of slashed prices and regret purchases, has now ballooned into a four-day artificial intelligence playground, and apparently, you’re not shopping unless a robot is holding your hand.

According to the latest Adobe forecast, this year’s Prime Day—which runs July 8 through July 11—is expected to see a jaw-dropping $23.8 billion in online sales across U.S. e-commerce platforms.

Yes, you read that right. That’s nearly $10 billion more than last year, because evidently, inflation doesn’t apply when there’s a limited-time lightning deal on air fryers.

Adobe, which has carved out a nice side hustle as the oracle of American consumerism, came to this conclusion by analyzing over a trillion visits to retail websites, tracking 100 million SKUs, and possibly watching everyone’s digital footprints like a proud digital Santa.

The real twist this year, though, is generative AI.

Apparently, we’ve collectively decided that we’re no longer capable of forming independent shopping decisions, and instead we’re letting chatbots tell us what to buy.

Adobe says traffic from generative AI sources will explode by 3,200% compared to last year.

To be fair, that’s from a very modest starting point—kind of like saying your TikTok following grew 3,200% after your mom and her book club joined.

Still, that’s a massive leap, and it’s only going to increase now that AI is officially your new best friend during checkout.

Let’s break that down.

People are turning to AI for everything from product research (55%), to getting gift ideas (35%), to straight-up making their shopping lists (33%).

Because clearly, figuring out which Bluetooth speaker to buy is now a task so intellectually demanding it must be outsourced to an algorithm trained on centuries of collective human knowledge and possibly your browsing history from 2017.

What’s more disturbing—92% of those surveyed who used generative AI said it improved their shopping experience.

That’s right: almost everyone who let a bot guide their purchasing decisions believes the process was “enhanced,” suggesting that maybe the bots understand us better than our own spouses.

And if you’re thinking this is just another tech fad, think again.

AI is no longer lurking behind the scenes.

Tech giants are fully leaning in.

Google’s Gemini-enhanced shopping tools and OpenAI’s integration of buying features into ChatGPT are proof that no click will go unoptimized, and no shopping cart will be free from the guiding hand of machine intelligence.

During last year’s holiday season, gen AI already made a splash—Adobe reported a 1,300% spike in AI-assisted shopping traffic from November to December 2024.

Prime Day 2025 is just the next logical step in our steady surrender to machine-led consumerism.

It’s not just about the tech, though.

This year’s deals are expected to center around apparel (gotta have the algorithm’s blessing before buying those cargo shorts) and back-to-school gear—because nothing says “first day of school” like algorithm-approved lunch boxes.

And let’s not forget mobile.

More than half of all sales—52.5% to be exact—will happen on phones.

So yes, you’ll probably be lying in bed, phone in hand, with a chatbot recommending three variants of something you didn’t even know you needed.

But don’t worry, it’ll also tell you it’s 38% off and “going fast.”

In conclusion, welcome to the future, where even your impulse buys are calculated by code.

You thought you were just buying socks—turns out, you’re participating in a $24 billion AI experiment.