Consumers Ask Why Companies Are Not Using AI More Effectively

This blog has often talked about the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the business environment. There are now so many use cases that some organizations consider it to be front and center in their future strategy – the future of entire businesses can now depend on embracing AI.

But the general public has often lagged behind, unable to see how this technology may be about to change their life. This is no longer true. There were several AI developments in 2022 that were very visible in the general media and they have caught the imagination of the wider public.

Generative art is one example. Tools like DALL-E are allowing people to create images from a description. Look at the header of this article. The DALL-E system created this image in seconds after I suggested this: “A blue vase filled with flowers in the style of Pablo Picasso.”

DALL-E can also create photo-realistic images, creating images of canyons and waterfalls that have never existed. The only limit is the imagination of the person creating the instructions.

ChatGPT is another tool that has been making headlines. At first glance it looks like a very intelligent chatbot, but it can do so much more. Software developers are now pasting code into ChatGPT and asking it to find the bugs. It can take a large chunk of text and then immediately summarize the important points. It can take an instruction such as ‘write a poem about a supermarket in the style of James Joyce’ and then create an actual poem.

These tools are making the public finally realize that AI could be an extremely powerful tool that could change their life.

This is also likely to start changing expectations on companies. People can see and experience the power of AI for themselves. They will be expecting more companies to offer smarter and more intuitive options.

For example, if your mobile phone data package often runs out near to the end of the month you might find either that you have no data available or the phone company charges a very high rate for anything used that is not in the plan. If this happens a few times then why wouldn’t the company notice and automatically build a new plan that is more suitable?

Or a supermarket customer who never buys meat because she is vegetarian, but constantly receives offers for bacon and sausages from the same supermarket. Is it too difficult to actually look at the purchase history of an individual customer to know what they like and dislike?

These examples may seem frivolous, but these are important ways for brands to get much closer to their customers. Know them, understand their needs, and create individual offers or deals to keep them loyal.

Customers can now see the power of AI. They will have greater expectations from companies. They will no longer accept clunky services where the same package is offered to millions of people. Brands need to take the data they have on their customers and start using AI and data analysis to find the trends and hidden insight. What do their customers really want?

Continue discovering what the future will be like. Gartner has provided a good summary for the tech industry. Their latest analysis looking ahead to 2023 lists ten important technologies worth watching this year – and AI is one of them.