I've worked around systems that store products in a previous job and products are usually linked via facets and categories, it's very unlikley there's any AI inolved. It's probably just rules based and goes through them (what's in stock, same product type but different brand, same brand, similar price etc).

I asked ChatGPT if it could find me an alternative product for the given supermarket and it gave a load of sensible substitutions!

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

products are usually linked via facets and categories, it’s very unlikley there’s any AI inolved

AI graphs draw from the same well of data when making substitutions.

I asked ChatGPT if it could find me an alternative product for the given supermarket and it gave a load of sensible substitutions!

ChatGPT doesn't have live inventory data on the store's warehouse. It can give you recommendations for substitutions that a generic store might have. It can't give you a substitution based on a specific store's remaining inventory.

This isn't an AI problem strictly speaking. It is a retail strategy to fill orders and collect money in a way that maximizes revenue with limited respect for accuracy.

AI integration to a store's inventory data set just accelerates this process.