Can AI Make Shopping Easier Without Taking Control?

TikTok product designer Zhengyang Yang discusses using AI to turn product discovery into purchase confidence, without adding friction or taking choice away from the shopper. AI-assisted shopping is moving beyond product recommendations and chatbots. It is beginning to help customers compare products, interpret reviews, find the right size, and decide whether an item is actually right for them. But there is a risk: adding AI to every stage of the shopping journey can create more clicks, more uncertainty, and another interface customers need to learn. In this CX Today interview, Rhys Fisher speaks with Zhengyang Yang, a product designer at TikTok, about the product decisions that determine whether shopping AI helps customers make a confident decision or gets in their way. Yang explains why AI should move customers from inspiration to confidence, reduce cognitive load, and fit into familiar shopping behaviors such as search, product pages, carts, and checkout. The conversation covers: How AI can help customers move from product discovery to purchase confidence Why shopping AI should reduce cognitive load, rather than add more clicks Where AI is most useful in the shopping journey Why retailers should not force customers into unfamiliar AI-first flows How “progressive assistance” can improve familiar search, browse, cart, and product-page experiences Why customers need to see the evidence behind AI summaries and recommendations How shoppers should be able to challenge or correct AI-generated guidance Why a good AI shopping assistant knows when to help, when to step back, and when to let the customer exit Yang was interviewed in a personal capacity. His views do not represent official TikTok policy or product plans.