New Delhi, Feb. 13 -- The time of year has come again when gift-givers trudge around shops and scroll endlessly through e-commerce websites to find suitable Christmas presents for their loved ones. Some will enjoy browsing. But many will not. A growing number will happily outsource much of the process to artificial intelligence (AI).

Chatbots offer a personal shopper for all. They can listen to what a user wants, produce a shortlist of products and help with comparisons. This holiday season around two-thirds of consumers in rich countries, and five-sixths of those aged 18-24, plan to use AI to help them shop, according to a survey by Shopify, a provider of e-commerce tools. A study from McKinsey, a consultancy, found that the second-most...