Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year you will no doubt have heard something about artificial intelligence (AI). Whether it has been positive or negative, AI has been completely unavoidable and you will doubtless have some questions.
Being that we have recently introduced a generative AI technology into the InsightHub in the form of TextMR we thought it would be best to address and allay some of the most common fears that this ‘new’ technology provokes. Before we look at some of the common questions around AI however it’s worth looking at the types of information that you will be seeing around AI and how it should be viewed. With anything new, there are generally 3 forms of information that you will see regarding this:
- Opinions – Usually found on social media and should be viewed with scepticism
- Facts – Usually provided by industry experts and reputable news sources
- Hyperbole – Usually provided by and exacerbated by word of mouth and influencers
In an age where information is constant, identifying which category the information falls into is crucial in gaining an informed perspective on a new technology. We’re not going to go into techniques for identifying this here but we are a research agency so spoiler alert, doing a little research is the key.
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| Information on the internet about AI is completely unavoidable and sometimes contradictory. So let's bust some of the myths regarding AI and market research. |
Common freakouts over AI
From here on out we will be looking at some of the common questions that colleagues, friends and almost certainly older relatives have been asking for the last year or so.
It’s new and probably dangerous
I get it, new things are scary and something as prevalent as AI genuinely feels like a shift in the established way of things. The thing is though, it’s not new and the first instances of AI were created in the 1950s so we’ve managed not to let it take over in the last 70+ years. More than this, you’ve most likely not had a day in the last 30 years that hasn’t been impacted by AI in some way.
If you’ve bought a product that is mass produced then the machines that make it either use or were created with some level of AI. The traffic you drive in could soon be controlled by systems that either rely heavily on, or were created in part by AI. It’s this history that tells us that whilst AI has the potential to be dangerous, it has a lot more potential to increase safety across almost all areas.
Will it replace my job?
If I allow myself to forget that I need money to survive, the thought of retiring and perhaps finally beginning my water park world tour, leaving behind my new AI buddy to make sure that my to-do lists are continually kept up seems attractive. Remembering however that we remain in reality, the new additions to my role and industry don’t fill me full of dread, rather wonder how much more an individual can achieve and how many of those tedious manual processes I may be able to automate very soon.
For others, the answer to this question differs on a case-by-case basis but generally speaking no, AI isn’t going to take your job. If you work in market research then the likelihood is that AI has already had an influence on your role in ways that you may or may not be aware of. From the implementation of direct AI tools such as our own TextMR to the use of data gleaned from social media listening (yes, AI is watching your social media) marketers should already be familiar with AI in some way.
Market research if anything is a good analogue for the way in which AI can be seamlessly integrated into your job rather than making you obsolete. Whilst AI isn’t great at replacing humans in those complex and intangible tasks like art or music, using it to automate laborious tasks means that the admin that we all hate might be something you can leave to AI very soon.
It’s worth remembering that whilst AI feels new, the process of automation in industry is nothing new. As machines have replaced manual workers over the last century there hasn’t been a precipitous, sustained period of massive unemployment that would be expected if this did indeed replace jobs. With new technology comes new industries, and with new industries come new jobs so as long as you are willing to change as we all should be we’re sure you’ll be fine.
Will it replace me entirely?
There’s a lot to life other than work and fortunately or not AI has of course bled into this leisure arena. As well as AI-generated novels, tv shows and indeed art there seems to be no area that has not had someone shoehorn an AI algorithm into it with varying effectiveness. The important thing to remember is that AI just doesn’t have the inbuilt spontaneity and creativity that all humans do, its decisions and its results are based upon interpreting things that already exist and redoing them.
You will no doubt have seen some pretty decent art from AI or maybe even heard a catchy song generated by AI but the current iterations of AI can only really take the songs that currently exist and interpolate them into something ‘new’. Humans however are infinitely creative and have an ability that thus far hasn’t been created by any AI, something entirely new!
AI is cold and heartless
As humans we naturally fear anything that can make decisions without considering that all-important human element, those considerations that aren’t really essential but make things easier and more equitable. Generally, we believe that AI isn’t constrained by these human considerations and only considers cold hard logic when making its decisions. Making decisions based on cold hard logic isn’t so much of a problem with your average calculator that is incredibly limited in its function but consider perhaps an AI based self-driving car. Would this car potentially have to evaluate the value of human life before reacting to a crash on the road and if so, who should be prioritised?
There are also benefits to this cold hard reasoning however and as a marketer, it is especially useful to me in order to increase the accuracy of analysis. Humans are emotional beings and we will often read into results on an emotional level and through the lens of our own position, implementing an analysis feature that isn’t capable of emotion removes most potential for bias (outside of algorithmic bias, which is another story) and leaves you (in theory) with the most accurate analysis possible.
Thankfully AI has a saving grace/fatal flaw in this area and that is that it is created and controlled (for now at least) by humans. Its actions are trained by the data that is fed into it so as humans we have to remember that by feeding it our most pernicious and prejudiced data then it will very quickly become the cold heartless monster that we requested.
“AI is ultimately a mirror, and it will reflect back exactly who we are, from the best of us to the worst of us” – John Oliver
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| Questions like 'will AI take over the world' and 'will AI take my job' are common concerns, but is it true for market research-based AI tools? |
Will it take over the world?
I checked on this one as I was concerned and it pinky-swore, so if it does you will get an apology from me:
AI in Reality
In all seriousness however, AI has the potential to be a genuine shift point for humanity much in the same way that the internet and the car have in the past but all AI that we have thus far created has one major factor holding it back, it’s too narrow. Narrow AI is trained to collate data on a specific topic and then generate content in the form of words, designs or anything else really but these will always be based on area of data that you fed into the AI in the first place.
There is, however, another type of AI, and you’ve probably already guessed that it is termed ‘broad’; this type of AI currently hasn’t been achieved. Broad AI isn’t constrained by those limitations that narrow AI is and doesn’t need to fit into a prescribed output, giving it the potential for completely revolutionary and new thought. Experts disagree on if and when this type of AI will be perfected but with private and public sector investment in this so high currently it will likely be within your lifetime. Should this be the case then perhaps we would have more realistic worries but for now whilst it may broadly affect your life, AI remains narrow.
