The REAL reason why prices change when you shop…

26 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this YouTube segment, Dan Novaes explains how artificial intelligence enables sophisticated dynamic pricing. He describes how companies already gather data on demand, shopper behavior, inventory levels, and purchasing patterns, and how AI can analyze these signals in real time to decide which price to display to each individual consumer. While airlines and hotels have long used basic dynamic pricing, Novaes argues that AI can make price changes far more granular—varying by time of day, remaining inventory, and a customer's likelihood to buy—allowing firms to maximize revenue. He then raises the ethical controversy of showing different customers different prices for the same product and notes that regulators are beginning to scrutinize algorithmic pricing, warning that as AI gets better at predicting consumer behavior it could also predict exactly how much each person is willing to pay.

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What if the price you see online isn't the price everyone else sees? AI could make that increasingly possible. Companies already collect information about demand, shopping behavior, inventory, and purchasing patterns. AI can analyze those signals in real time and help businesses decide what price to show. That's called dynamic pricing. Airlines and hotels have used versions of it for years, but AI could make it far more sophisticated. Imagine prices changing based on demand, time of day, remaining inventory, and how likely customers are to buy. That could help companies maximize revenue. But it also creates a controversial question: should 2 people ever pay different prices for exactly the same product? Regulators are already paying attention to how algorithms influence pricing. Because as AI gets better at predicting what consumers will do, companies could become better at predicting something else too: exactly how much you're willing to pay.