What AI can’t replace

AI can write the email. Answer the question. Recommend the product. Summarise the meeting. Compare the options. And it’s getting better at all of it. So perhaps there’s another question brands should be asking.

What can’t AI replace?

We were recently digging into Mintel’s Connected Economy research and there was an interesting tension running through it. We’ve never been more connected. But we’re not necessarily feeling more connected.

42% of people say they feel lonely at least some of the time, while 37% say their conversations are often superficial. At the same time, consumers aren’t necessarily spending less. They’re becoming more deliberate about what is worth spending on. Experiences. Time with friends and family. Small moments of joy. Put those things together and there’s an interesting lesson for brands.

Convenience is becoming a commodity

There’s no denying what AI and technology can do for customer experience. They can make things quicker. Easier. More personalised. More available. And for lots of interactions, that’s exactly what people want.

But if every brand has access to increasingly similar technology, being quick and convenient becomes less of a differentiator. The technology gets better. The friction disappears. The experience becomes more efficient. But does it become more memorable? Not necessarily.

People still want people

There are moments when efficiency isn’t the most important thing. When we’re making a big decision. When something has gone wrong. When we need reassurance. When we’re celebrating. When we want advice from someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. When we simply want to feel looked after. In those moments, human interaction still matters. And perhaps, as more of our everyday interactions become automated, those moments will matter more, not less.

The opportunity for brands isn’t to resist AI. It’s to understand where technology makes the experience better – and where people make the experience better. They’re not always the same place.

The experience is part of the brand

We often think about brand in terms of what we say. Our proposition. Our messaging. Our campaigns. Our content. But brands are also built through hundreds of little experiences. How easy was it to get help? Did somebody remember your name? Did the person on the phone actually listen? Did opening the package make you smile? How did the whole thing make you feel? Those moments might seem small, but they’re often the bits we remember. And talk about.

So, where should AI fit?

Maybe that’s the wrong question. The rush towards AI has left lots of businesses asking:

 How can we use it?

It’s understandable. There’s enormous potential there. But starting with the technology can lead you to look for places to put it. We’d start somewhere else. With the customer.

Where do they want speed? Where do they want simplicity? Where do they need reassurance? Where does expertise matter? Where could a human interaction turn an ordinary experience into a memorable one? And where could technology quietly make all of that work better? Then you can decide where AI belongs.

Find the moments that matter

As consumers become more deliberate about where they spend their money and technology takes more of the functional heavy lifting, brands have an opportunity. Not to become more automated. Or less automated. But more deliberate. Use AI to remove the friction. Use technology to make things easier. But know where the human moments are. Protect them. Invest in them. Make something of them. Because the question every brand should be asking isn’t:

How do we use AI?

It’s:

Where do we fit into the moments our customers value most?

Because that’s where brands have the chance to become memorable.