By Neal Sandin
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evoked both fear and excitement in the past year over its impact on the marketplace, economy, and our everyday lives. As a market researcher, my job is to discover ways for businesses, brands, and employees to add value to their interactions with consumers. However, in the face of a tool like AI that promises to expand in scope, reach, and capability in 2024 and the years to come, this can seem to be an insurmountable challenge.
AI has moved into the popular culture and become democratic, thanks in large part to two key strengths. First, its uses and output are novel and exciting. Users now have more impact and control over this tool, with surprising, useful, and often eye-opening results. It can generate video, images, research papers and summaries, seemingly in the blink of an eye. Secondly, but perhaps even more importantly, it is convenient, as programs like ChatGPT have demonstrated. It is easily accessible and user friendly. Anyone can make something entirely novel in just a few minutes while walking down the street with a coffee in one hand and a smartphone in the other.
With these advances, there is also controversy. In 2023, the use of AI was one of the main points of contention in the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes. In addition, Marvel faced backlash for using AI during the credits of Secret Invasion. Book publishers have also been criticized for using AI for book covers, as was the case with Fractal Noise by Christoper Paolini. Much of this is depicted as not supporting creatives, and that is certainly a significant factor. However, there is more at play.
It is perhaps not coincidental that the rise in AI seems to correspond with the rise of the “Loneliness Epidemic.” More and more Americans across all ages and demographics are experiencing a sense of isolation, often with devastating effects. AI, a machine that responds to the user, may offer a sense of connection that so many need, fueling its popularity and uptake.
Within my own industry of market research, we are primarily interested in the subjective – how people perceive, understand, and react to the world around them. Facts may matter, but perceptions and emotions are what drive behavior. Several AI tools promise to write my research reports for me in a matter of minutes, a process that normally is quite time consuming. While certainly convenient, my career would come to a quick end if I did not add value by (at the very least) adding my own insights.
These all highlight the greatest weakness and shortcoming of AI – its perceived lack of authenticity. In fact, Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year 2023 is “authentic.” This reflects the desire for something true, something that has meaning. After all, when we watch an actor on TV or in a movie, we want to believe that they are feeling the emotions they are portraying. Even an animated movie is only as good as its voice actors.
It also shows a desire for connection, for community. It is these human connections that bring so much value to our lives, and we feel the pain of their loss, a reason why this Loneliness Epidemic is so devastating for so many.
All of this illustrates an opportunity for brands, employees, and individuals more generally – creating authentic connections. That is what is missing from AI. It may be further refined, but it will never achieve real, human connection, only the appearance of it. As consumers, we often prioritize clothes that are handmade and food that is traditionally prepared. We can even become emotionally connected to mass-produced electronics so long as they have a personal story behind them. Authenticity means human, that a person stands behind and values the product or service they are offering.
A market researcher asks, “What is the story you bring to this product/service? What is your stake? What is your motivation?” – questions that consumers are increasingly asking. These answers can only come from a living, breathing human being, and they must also be communicated in an authentic way.
This is not to denigrate AI as a tool. It has already helped solve long-standing scientific puzzles and promises to help advance our knowledge far into the future. It can, and certainly will, improve services and products, but in the end, it is a tool.
Authentic human connection is something that we used to take for granted; now, it is a point of distinction. Each interaction, product, service, and touch point needs to add authentic value; something that AI alone cannot provide. AI can help create innovative services and products, solve complex problems, ease backlogs, and streamline workflow, but it does not create or replace authentic human connection.