The hidden burnout of endless choice and loong descriptive content : why GenAI fuelled abundance will backfire

We used to say “more is better.” Now , more just feels .. exhausting.

Today, when you shop online .. be it for a casual kurta , a budget-friendly hotel stay in Goa or even a pair of sports shoes .. you’re shown hundreds of options enriched with slick GenAI generated images , above 4.6-star ratings , endless scrolls of catalogue content and videos that autoplay before you even blink.

“here’s the twist : you’re seeing more, but reading less.” .. and choosing less meaningfully.

Welcome to the rise of “implicit annoyance”

This isn’t throwning a tantrum. It’s a subtle but growing frustration which is not even known to the users. What started as joy in discovery has morphed into fatigue by excess.

Observation .. now a days , consumers are :
– skipping product descriptions.
– scrolling past videos and influencer reels.
– adding based on ratings and not relevance.

Why?

– because every page looks the same.
– because we’ve trained ourselves to skim, not to consider.
– because, ironically GenAI has democratised content .. but also making the users drown in it.

Imagine the plight for newly launched mobile cover brand .. it’s a graveyard.
– it might as well be shouting into the void.
– organic marketing dying.
– grim picture .. unless you’re already known , endorsed by influencers and
pushed via ads with high frequency targeting .. you’re invisible.

So , it makes me thing .. what’s the role of AI here?

IMHO , AI’s true role is not to generate more content .. but to curated it

Instead of flooding the user with options , the future of AI in retail must shift to refining the experience using:

– contextual nudges (“Did you know this has 5-star shock absorbing vs others?”)
– faceted summaries based on user intent , and not catalogue tags
– frictionless comparison that doesn’t ask the user to open 4 tabs or display 3 columns and let the user read more and understand less
– human-in-the-loop .. editorial clarity over algorithmic chaos

So , we don’t need infinite choices .. we need intelligent assistants. The best shopping experiences are no longer about abundance but they’re about alignment with user’s intent.

I hope that AI will be used to cut the noise and let the user breathe again to state “why” he wants something rather than “what” is thrown at him.

Until next time , happy shopping !!

Author – Sumit Rajwade, Co-founder: mPrompto