Mark Bartholomew of SUNY Buffalo and Samuel Becher of Victoria University of Wellington have written The End of Shopping. Here’s the abstract:
Self-acting “shopping agents” are no longer science fiction. Deployed by major platforms like Google, Amazon, and Walmart, AI systems are evolving from passive advisors to autonomous decision-makers capable of opening accounts, canceling subscriptions, and finalizing purchases without human oversight. Though AI shopping agents have the potential to improve consumer satisfaction and marketplace competition, shopping agents come with attendant risks. By foregrounding shopping’s overlooked economic, psychological, and cultural stakes, we reframe the rise of AI agents as a critical challenge for the law and society, rather than a mere evolution in retail convenience. Drawing on sociology, marketing, and behavioral science research, we demonstrate how AI delegation will fundamentally reshape consumer markets by optimizing purchases while potentially consolidating corporate power, diminishing consumer agency, and eroding social connection. Traditional legal doctrines-built on assumptions of human deliberation-are structurally misaligned with algorithmic commerce. To address these gaps, we propose a machine-aware regulatory toolkit featuring “algorithmic nutrition labels,” design nudges for preserving shopper self-determination, and structural safeguards, including age limits and sunset provisions. Without rapid legal intervention, algorithmic commerce threatens to undermine the economic discipline, personal autonomy, and social connections that give shopping meaning beyond mere acquisition.
