Target’s New AI Shopping Assistant Also Unable To Explain Why You Left With $214 In Throw Pillows

MINNEAPOLIS—Target this week began testing ‘Ask Target,’ a conversational AI assistant that can help shoppers find gift ideas, narrow choices and build wishlists, though early users report it remains just as baffled as they are about how a quick trip for toothpaste became $214 in throw pillows.

“I asked it, ‘Why did I buy these,’ and it thought for a long time,” said Courtney Vale, 33, of Edina, Minn., gesturing at a cart containing five pillows, three candles and a decorative wooden bead garland. “Then it asked whether I’d like to see coordinating throws. I think it was trying to help. I think it’s one of us now.”

The assistant arrives alongside more than 8,000 new holiday items, more than half of them exclusive and many under $20, a combination that behavioral economists described as ‘the most efficient way ever developed to spend $160 in $20 increments.’

• 31% Gift for a dad who ‘has everything’
• 24% Is this candle a gift or for me
• 18% Where is the bathroom
• 15% Why do I always come here
• 12% What did I come in for

What Shoppers Ask an AI Assistant at a Big-Box Store

Item	Share
Gift for a dad who ‘has everything’	31%
Is this candle a gift or for me	24%
Where is the bathroom	18%
Why do I always come here	15%
What did I come in for	12%

Source: The Daily SKU Projections Unit

“It asked if I’d like to see coordinating throws. It’s one of us now.”

Some shoppers said they hoped future versions would include a feature that gently intercepts them in the home-decor aisle. “I don’t need it to find gifts,” said Vale. “I need it to say, ‘Courtney. You have pillows.’”

At press time, Vale had asked Ask Target where the toothpaste was, and had been shown a seasonal toothpaste holder shaped like a gnome.