But when Meesho deployed AI to help match products with customers, the technology undermined, rather than promoted, the founders’ goal of democratization. Instead of broadening the array of products consumers would see, the AI algorithms narrowed it. “People would say, ‘Why do I keep seeing the same kinds of products,’” says Barnwal, who is Meesho’s CTO. Too often, the recommendations made it harder for little known merchants to establish themselves online.
For Barnwal and his team, this was a case of AI algorithms not helping the company achieve its ultimate goals. “This was going against our mission of democratizing internet commerce for everyone in India,” says Barnwal.
Meesho devised a new plan, designed to help make sure every new product posted on the site got a reasonable number of page views. This expanded the selection for consumers, and helped merchants get a fair shake. Besides more exposure for their products, Meesho’s systems also delivered feedback on price and quality issues so merchants could course correct. New algorithms factored in customer complaints, return rates, and other factors to determine if the seller had earned further support.