Hearts & Minds: Embrace AI…but never sacrifice authenticity

This week’s news that OpenAI ‘is building a social network’ will no doubt excite many. Immediately, the mental image is of robots conversing, sharing electronic chit-chat. Not quite. Open AI’s platform will focus on AI-generated images and is a response to the social media giants' move into AI. Still, it marks another step forward, and for corporates, it is bound to add to the bulging comms toolbox. 

But brands and businesses should tread carefully. Before they get carried away with the potential and progress of AI, there is a vital consideration to constantly bear in mind. It’s this: consumers are wary of AI and take a negative stance when they spot it. 

So, the temptation to upload and download to and from the new social AI network ought to be kept within limits. Be mindful of what must always remain paramount, namely trust and authenticity. They go together and without them, a brand, regardless of how smart its use of AI, will be heading downhill, fast. 

A recent poll of people aged 16-54 found that the majority, 55% lose faith in companies that deploy AI in their emails, although they do have more time for those firms that disclose if AI has been used.

Seeing AI content in an email lowers their perception of the brand’s worth, they feel less connected, not appreciated so much - despite the company’s insistence to the contrary. 

Their strongest reactions are reserved for customer service communications. There, they really do not welcome receiving AI generated content in response to a complaint – they want their needs and concerns addressed by a human being, someone with real emotions and feelings who might understand where they are coming from. 

Similar negativity extends to marketing material. In the same survey, a whopping 88% of consumers say they will ignore it if they consider the content has been produced using AI. A mere 4% say they consistently engage with companies that choose this route, they don’t mind if it is produced by AI. It is a tiny amount, 4%, one that should provide plenty of food for thought. 

As AI and our use of it progresses, the blurring will become ever greater. AI’s ability to personalise will increase. But it is a grave mistake to lose sight of the importance attached to human involvement and the human touch. AI enhances comms, it can assist in customer relationships, but it cannot build them.