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Pinterest is releasing a powerful new AI for online shopping

Ever looked at an image and wanted to buy a specific item in it?

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Well, Pinterest is currently rolling out an artificial intelligence tool that utilizes deep learning that will allow you to search items within an image, find it, and potentially buy it, according to Pinterest's blog.

To use the function, Pinterest users can tap a search tool that will appear in the corner of pins. From there, users will be able to draw a box around the specific item they would like to search. So, if you're looking at a photo of a living room and are only interested in the lamp, you can single out that specific item.

Pinterest Visual Search Tool
Pinterest's visual search tool. Pinterest

Pinterest will then draw from its index to produce the same exact item or visually similar items. Pinterest also rolled out a buy button feature over the summer for Pinterest posts, meaning that users could theoretically search for an item in an image and buy it on the spot.

“Image representation coming from deep learning is much, much more accurate,” Kevin Jing, head of visual search at Pinterest, told MIT review. “Even this year there has been so much improvement.”

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Pinterest is not the first to use deep learning for image searching purposes.

Google's TensorFlow, an artificial intelligence system made open source earlier this month, is scarily good at searching through photos because it can recognize places based on popular landmarks.

Deep learning works by searching through layers of data to recognize images. In regards to Google's TensorFlow, the system will look through data to determine what the picture is. It'll first look for basic characteristics, like the shape of the image, and then get more specific, such as whether it has paws indicating it's an animal. 

Pinterest's deep learning system will work similarly to determine what the image is and then scan an index to see if similar ones are available.

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Footwear retailer Shoes.com is currently testing a deep learning tool in its Canadian store, according to MIT review. The system will allow you to continuously filter through boot styles to find the particular type you are looking for.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

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