eBay Recommends... wait, that's my own item!

[Matt Thomason]

For the second week in a row, I've received an email from ebay, carefully calculating whatever variables it is they use to determine our likes and dislikes from previous page views/bids, recommending an item that I might like.

Which, in itself, isn't that strange an occurrence.

Except its chosen my item that I'm selling.

No, I don't want it back!!!

[lucky7]

*facepalms*

[Sissyl]

Yay! All these people harp on and on about artifical INTELLIGENCE, never even suspecting it was only half true.

[Trinite]

That's pretty hilarious. On the one hand, it must be a good algorithm, since it's found something that is so well-suited to your buying habits that you in fact already own it. And on the other hand, you obviously don't want it, because you're trying to sell it.

[Matt Thomason]

Trinite wrote:

That's pretty hilarious. On the one hand, it must be a good algorithm, since it's found something that is so well-suited to your buying habits that you in fact already own it. And on the other hand, you obviously don't want it, because you're trying to sell it.

To be fair, the only reason it's being sold is because it was an old unopened box of 3.5 books that I already owned copies of - some of which I'd bought copies of from ebay because I couldn't find the one I could have sworn I bought years ago. So I guess it realized from that it was, indeed, things I've been known to buy :)

[W E Ray]

They're still more knowledgeable, accurate and reliable than the government.

Kinda like how the Groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, is only accurate 50% of the time on Groundhog Day -- which is still better than the local weather report.