It’s not wrong to say artificial intelligence (AI) is controversial. It’s everywhere, and people have a lot of strong feelings about that. From the large language models (LLMs) themselves, to search engine results, and even sprinkled all over the websites and software tools we use every day, it seems like we can’t escape it–and yet, it’s also proving to be quite valuable for a lot of applications as long as it’s done right. 

People seem to fall into two camps when it comes to artificial intelligence: those who hate it and feel like it’s being shoved down their throats at every turn, and those who embrace it–testing out new tools when they can, and who are always on the hunt for new ways to leverage it in their day-to-day lives. 

Frankly, there are a lot of myths about AI. This can range from over- or underestimating its capabilities and usefulness to not understanding how exactly these tools work to begin with. 

In this article, we’ll look at LLMs in ecommerce and dispel some of the most common myths about AI we’ve seen over the last few years so that you can see how these tools can actually fit into your business. No extra fluff and buzzwords needed. 

Myth 1: “AI is a Magic Wand That Solves Everything Instantly”

Many people imagine AI as a plug-and-play magic wand. Just “ChatGPT it,” and every business challenge disappears overnight. The reality, however, is that AI is a powerful tool but not a one-size-fits-all solution. 

Successful use of AI means applying it to specific pain points as part of a broader strategy, not expecting an out-of-the-box miracle cure. For example, AI might help analyze trends or generate product content faster, but humans still need to decide which trends to act on or which channels to publish that content to. Basically, AI works best as a targeted helper for well-defined tasks. It can significantly accelerate your work, but it won’t replace sound strategy and planning.

People who believe this AI myth are usually very disappointed when they try to implement an AI system and find it needs much more human oversight, tailoring, and troubleshooting than they thought. 

Identify the challenges and consider tools that address them specifically. When you leverage AI to augment a well-thought-out process, rather than solve everything in one go, you’re far more likely to see meaningful benefits.

Myth 2: “LLMs Will Replace All Human Jobs”

Clickbaity stories about layoffs and “AI-first” companies fuel the fear that AI will steal jobs outright. In ecommerce, this myth usually manifests as the common misconception that LLMs might replace content writers, customer service reps, or even managers. An AI model can indeed automate repetitive tasks, but in reality, AI works best as a collaborator, not a replacement.

The best brands understand this and see generative AI for ecommerce as an additional team member who can handle the grunt work and repetitive tasks that your human staff already hate doing. A real person wouldn’t have to answer the fourth “where is my order?” chat message of the day when an AI algorithm can get that done in a few seconds. This frees up your real agents to work on more complex requests that actually need that human touch for the best results (more on this later). 

In content creation, LLMs can help by generating product descriptions or marketing copy, which your human copywriters can then refine and inject with brand personality. No one likes staring at blank pages and suffering through writer’s block at their 9:00 to 5:00. Now, content writers can get to work on ready-made drafts and spend more time polishing creative details instead of outlining. 

Take it one step further and start implementing AI agents (agentic AI workflows) into your sales, customer service, and marketing efforts to optimize your day-to-day activities further, since these agents require even less prompting and manual work than traditional chat-based tools. 

Remember, AI can optimize your ecommerce business’s supply chains or generate data-driven insights in seconds, but it still can’t replace the empathy, creativity, and critical thinking your employees bring to the job every day (and we’re not sure it ever will).  

Myth 3: “AI Is Only for Big Companies. It’s Too Expensive and Complex for Small Businesses”

It’s actually the opposite. Sure, large companies can obviously afford much more in terms of development time and SaaS subscriptions, but modern AI tools are increasingly accessible even to leaner organizations. This is due in part to cloud computing, pay-per-use models, and pre-built tools. 

You might not even have to look very far for perfectly functional AI-driven features. Most ecommerce platforms and tools already have built-in LLM-based features available, often at no extra cost. Shopify, for example, has its Magic and Sidekick tools, while Adobe Commerce has Sensei AI, which powers features like Product Recommendations and Live Search. 

Tools like Klaviyo for email marketing, or Gorgias for customer support, also have AI-driven features accessible to non-technical users that can make it easy for ecommerce brands to integrate AI into their day-to-day without having to interact with the LLMs themselves directly. 

Sure, Amazon has the resources to build and deploy its own proprietary AI quickly. Still, your average ecommerce merchant shouldn’t feel like they need to reinvent the wheel when there are already so many interesting tools available to help save time and money immediately. 

Myth 4: “AI-Generated Content Is Low Quality and Bad for SEO”

When it comes to using LLMs for writing product descriptions, blog posts, or other content, many people worry that the output will be generic, incorrect, or even penalized by Google. The truth? LLMs can produce high-quality, engaging content when used properly (and with human guidance), and that’s really all that major search engines care about. 

According to Google, their “focus on the quality of content, rather than how content is produced, is a useful guide that has helped [them] deliver reliable, high-quality results to users for years.” Search engines want helpful, original content, whether it's AI-generated or not. 

That said, if you’re just prompting ChatGPT to “write a 1000-word article about summer fashion trends for women” and pasting the output on your blog, it won’t do well. Readers and customers interact with content that they feel is worth their time. If you’re not putting the time or effort into your text, you can’t expect anyone to care, which also signals to search engines that your website isn’t a useful search result. 

When done right, AI-generated content can actually enhance your SEO efforts. It enables you to scale up the volume of unique, descriptive content across an extensive catalogue, something that would be hard to do manually for hundreds or thousands of SKUs. More quality content means more opportunities to rank. It also helps maintain a consistent structure and keyword usage, which search engines appreciate. 

Myth 5: “AI Chatbots and Customer Service Don’t Mix

Before LLM-based chatbots became the norm, customers had to deal with clunky, flow-based chat “bots” that often didn’t understand their requests and were like pulling teeth to interact with. This is one of the reasons why people react so negatively when they encounter live chats that look similar, but are powered by AI.

Today’s AI customer service tools are much more advanced than the script-based bots from a few years ago. These types of bots are trained on your store’s helpdesk articles, website, and brand guidelines, mirroring human agents and providing quick answers to common customer questions and concerns. 

Some, like Gorgias’ AI chatbots, can even interact with your store’s backend to perform certain tasks on behalf of your team, like cancelling orders. This means that these bots can work 24/7 and handle up to 60% of your frequent CS tasks, allowing your actual human agents to focus more on issues and customers that require their attention. Not to mention how these AI assistants never get tired or burned out after answering the same questions day after day.

The ideal setup is now AI + human. With this hybrid approach, you can enhance your overall service quality, not detract from it. As long as you’re using AI as part of a tiered support strategy that focuses on meaningful customer interactions, you’ll quickly see an improvement in efficiency and happier customers overall. 

Myth 6: “You Can’t Trust AI. It’s Too Error-Prone and Will Go Off the Rails”

On the flip side of myth #5’s worry about AI being too dumb, some skeptics are concerned by how smart or convincing LLMs can be. They’ve heard about AI “hallucinations,” seen examples of biased or inappropriate AI responses, and worry that the “Terminator”-style AI villains in our SciFi books and movies can become a reality. 

The myth here is that deploying an LLM is dangerous because it might produce wrong or off-brand content, make a bad decision, or otherwise operate without oversight. In an ecommerce context, you might fear that an AI could recommend the wrong prices, misinterpret sales data, or generate a tone-deaf product description that alienates customers.

The reality is that yes, AI can absolutely make mistakes or bad judgments if left unchecked. That’s why we would never recommend letting AI run your store or write your content without human oversight. 

If you’re going into an AI implementation thinking that this tool will run autonomously, you’re not going about things the right way. Instead, treat AI like a junior employee or intern, not the CEO. It’s an eager, fast learner, but someone needs to manage it and check its work. 

Remember, training and context are key with AI. If you launch a new product line, you’d feed those details into your AI copywriter or chatbot knowledge base. If you enter a new market, you’d ensure your AI is tuned to any new cultural or language nuances. Regular audits can catch if the AI is drifting in quality or if new types of errors pop up, so you can course correct.

Myth 7: “AI is Just a Fad”

Finally, many people simply feel that AI doesn’t apply to them. Maybe you’ve been running your store successfully without AI, or you think AI is overhyped and not worth the hassle. The myth is that AI is a nice-to-have or a trendy gimmick that won’t actually move the needle for a small/mid-sized online business. …Or maybe it’s only necessary if you’re Amazon-scale, but not for “regular” businesses like yours. 

The reality is that AI is quickly becoming a standard competitive tool across all business sizes. We’ve reached a point where not leveraging AI can mean falling behind competitors who do. 

If you remain skeptical and choose not to explore AI, you might be okay for a while, but keep in mind your competitors are definitely using it. If they can respond to market trends faster thanks to AI analytics, provide quicker customer service thanks to AI chatbots, or rank higher in SEO thanks to AI-augmented content creation, they will slowly pull ahead. It’s similar to the early days of ecommerce itself: businesses that got online sooner had an edge.

Think about it: AI will never be worse than it is today. If it’s already this capable, who knows how it’s going to look in six months or even six years? There’s no better time to sit and figure out how it slots into your business than today. 

Conclusion

We’ve debunked a number of ecommerce AI myths here, from fears of AI replacing your team to doubts about its content quality and usefulness for smaller businesses. The truth about AI in ecommerce is more nuanced than “all hype” or “SciFi apocalypse”. It’s a powerful set of tools that, when used thoughtfully, can transform how you operate, making your store more efficient, your customers happier, and your growth more achievable.

The real takeaway here is that AI is a partner for your business, not your boss, but a helpful employee that never sleeps. As long as you understand its limitations and are willing to put in the work, you’ll see results.

At Blue Badger, we’re passionate about guiding businesses through the practical uses of AI in ecommerce because we’ve seen the real results it can deliver. With open-mindedness, a bit of training, and a clear strategy, you might just find that AI becomes one of your brand’s favourite new “employees.” Get in touch with us today to learn more about adopting AI for your business.