Shopping with ChatGPT: How AI is reshaping daily life for Vietnamese Gen Z

"Help me choose a durian with multiple pods and a thin shell," she told the generative AI chatbot. Within 10 seconds it responded with a detailed analysis of the shapes of the fruits, the sizes of their spines and the colors of their rinds. Following ChatGPT’s suggestion, Dan was surprised to find plump, golden durian pulp with a sweet, rich flavor.

Since the beginning of the year the 25-year-old resident of Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, has been grocery shopping with ChatGPT, instead of phoning her mother for help. She picked up the habit after watching a video titled "AI Picking Watermelon." After her first successful attempt, she turned the AI into a personal shopping companion.

"At first I avoided grocery shopping because I didn’t know how to pick the right stuff and wanted to avoid low-quality goods," she explains. Now, whenever she needs to buy fresh greens, the right cuts of meat with a balanced fat-to-lean ratio, or the freshest fish, she simply takes a photo and asks the chatbot for advice. Its analyses, based on the color, texture and clarity of fish's eyes, for instance, help her make confident decisions. It even provides a price reference that allows Dan to save money.

Along with picking fresh produce, Dan also uses the AI tool to scan barcodes and packaging to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit goods. "I feel so much more confident, it feels like I have an expert shopping with me," she says. Dan says she is comfortable with pausing to take photos, as it saves much more time than trying to look up information online.

My Duyen, a Vietnamese student in Japan, has also been using ChatGPT for her grocery shopping for the last two months. Fruit selection used to be a major challenge, even after carefully memorizing tips given by her family members, she says.

"Young people are usually inexperienced when it comes to selecting fresh produce. Sometimes I would spend hours choosing items, only to bring home spoiled ones. With AI, the stress over shopping decisions has finally ceased." Many of her friends have also followed suit and reported "better-than expected results."

Whenever she shops, Linh Dan carefully reads the ingredient lists, then asks ChatGPT to analyze them and provide suggestions. Photo by the courtesy of Linh Dan

Grocery shopping is only a portion of how artificial intelligence models are rapidly evolving into personal life assistants for young people. A VnExpress survey found that "shopping with AI" has gained traction on social media over the past three months. The keyword "grocery shopping with ChatGPT" yields a multitude of videos across various platforms, with detailed tutorials on selecting the freshest produce. These videos have attracted tens of thousands to millions of interactions, with many commenters confirming the accuracy of the advice.

This trend in Vietnam youth mirrors a global pattern. During the AI Ascent event in May, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said it is possible to identify a user’s age based on how they interact with AI. "Older people use ChatGPT as a Google replacement, while people in their 20s and 30s use it as like a life advisor."

Dr. Dinh Ngoc Son, an expert in digital transformation and AI, considers the use of technology in daily life activities such as grocery shopping indicates the agility and adaptability of younger generations in the current digital landscape.When people use AI to analyze images of fruits such as watermelons or durians, they are combining computer vision, a powerful branch of AI, with machine learning to evaluate various criteria including color, shape and skin texture, he explains. In the past these skills were typically passed down as tips by older generations, he points out.

"More importantly, these tools empower young people to make data-driven decisions rather than relying solely on intuition." He cites a recent IBM study indicating that 78% of Gen Z believe AI helps them make better decisions in daily life, whether in education, finance or cooking.

Son also dismisses the notion that overreliance on AI can damage life skills, comparing it to the fear that computers would make people "forget how to do math" when they were first introduced. "AI should not be viewed as a crutch but as a stepping stone for people to develop higher-level skills."

A person shopping with phone. Photo by Pexels

For Hai Tung, 30, of HCMC, AI has become a tool to support his day-to-day activities. Lacking confidence in his ability to shop for groceries or cook, Tung used to frequently eat out or waited for his parents to send him food. With the help of technology, he has been able to take charge in the kitchen.

For instance, when he wants to make braised pork belly or gourd soup with shrimp or dragon fruit for dessert, Tung asks AI for recipe suggestions and tips on how to select the best ingredients.

At the market, he takes photos of meat cuts, gourds and dragon fruits so the AI can advise him on choosing the freshest options. "It’s like having a professional chef patiently answer every question, and there’s no limit to how many times you can ask," he says. "Grocery shopping and cooking have never been easier."

AI helps Linh Dan calculate her calorie intake and suggests healthy meal plans in addition to assisting with shopping and providing useful advice for work and daily life. "My life has become healthier, and AI’s helped me maintain my shape," she says.