AI as Santa Claus
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a practical assistant in everyday life, and in Russia it is already helping citizens choose personalized New Year gifts
Smart Holiday Helpers
AI has firmly integrated into the daily lives of Russian users. It assists with training, nutrition planning, smart home automation, product selection, medical guidance, and even mental health support.
More than 90 percent of the population now reports a positive attitude toward digital assistants. In 2025, traffic in AI services increased sixfold compared to 2024.
So it’s no surprise that choosing gifts with AI is becoming a fast-growing trend. Neural networks answer the season’s most stressful questions: what to give and how to do everything on time.
Users simply describe the gift recipient—budget, favorite colors, age, occupation, interests, personality traits, or even the reason behind the gift—and receive tailored recommendations. Digital Santa can handle almost any brief.
Toward a Stress-Free New Year
Personalized AI gift recommendations for 2026 are already available in services like Alice, GigaChat, and VK’s AI assistant. Just five years ago Sber unveiled its first smart shopping service, which seemed more like entertainment. But in that short time the country has taken a remarkable technological leap.
Integrated into major marketplaces, AI tools can suggest items, compare prices, and schedule delivery windows. Next year, even more advanced systems will refine this process further, using likes and behavioral signals to generate hyper‑accurate results. AI‑driven shopping is set to become part of everyday consumer behavior.
AI as an Engine of Growth
For Russian digital companies, this market is strategically important. Yandex’s Alice recently received a major upgrade, becoming more empathetic and context‑aware. Developers are training neural networks to maintain dialogue, remember context, and perform increasingly complex tasks. As a result, Russian services are becoming more accurate and popular, fueling growth across the digital sector.
Surveys from the analytics service Mediascope show that over a quarter of Russians interact with domestic AI monthly, and weekly usage continues to rise. Demand for AI assistants is accelerating rapidly, with Russia’s Alice AI becoming the national leader. A new culture of digital consumption is emerging, where AI serves not only as a work assistant but also as a personal helper in everyday tasks.
What AI Still Cannot Replace
Despite its convenience, experts warn that AI may not be the best choice for selecting gifts intended to convey deep emotional meaning. However, it is invaluable when you need to process many separate details, search for unusual options within a strict budget, or consider specific constraints such as allergies or limited living space.
